Infinite Loop
by Shimegami
Summary: When one of Kaitou Kid's targets does a lot more than look pretty, Kid and newly-returned Shinichi find themselves facing a dark reality where they don't exist...and the Organization has seeped into everything. ::KaiShin, AU::
1. Chapter 1: Setting Up The Board

Author's Notes: Well it's certainly been a long time, eh? Especially since I've written Conan, as upload dates would tell you. So forgive me if characterization is a little off, I've got to get back into the swing of writing these guys.

Warnings: This will end up yaoi/shounen ai, with the pairing Kaito/Shinichi. Those who don't wish to read such things, please use the emergency escape exit located in the "back" button on your browser. This is also an AU, in many meanings of the word, heh. It is also completely un-beta'ed. -jazz hands-

Disclaimer: As Kaito and Shinichi are not having hot mirror sex in the manga/show, obviously I don't own them. Characters property of Aoyama Gosho.

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**Chapter One**

Setting Up The Board

It had begun, as Shinichi would later remember ruefully, with such an innocuous little thing.

In this case, a stupid shiny rock.

It had also started, as Shinichi normally had no interest in rocks no matter or sparkling or shiny beyond knowledge needed for cases, at a Kaitou Kid heist – another source of things that Shinichi tended to later regret.

It had been a crisp, clear autumn dawn when Kid's next target had been announced, a large chunk of tanzanite that had been named "Night Sky" due to its flawless, exceptionally rich indigo color and a rumor that if one stared at it in certain lighting, it looked like it was filled with stars. Big, flashy, and with a weird legend attached to it, perfect Kid bait.

Shinichi, newly-returned to his life after finally taking out the Black Organization and obtaining a cure from Haibara, had had a long debate with himself on whether or not he should go as he munched on a piece of toast at breakfast, reading the paper that announced Kid's intentions.

On one hand, Kudou Shinichi had no business at the heist. He had long proclaimed mere thieves below his skills, deeming murder the far more heinous crime to set his sights on. It would be odd for him to show up contrary to his opinions, and from what he remembered of Inspector Nakamori, another "snot-nosed brat thinking he can get Kid before me" would likely infuriate him. The man hadn't been too happy the one time they'd met before he was shrunk, either, at that clock tower. And, of course, Kid heists were the stomping grounds of Hakuba Saguru, whom Shinichi would have to pretend to never have met before – especially as a little seven-year-old with big glasses – and the reserved teen might take it as an affront to his skills.

On the other hand, he found himself wanting to go. Kid's heists were...something of an oasis in a desert of murders. Kid's luck seemed to counter his ability to inevitably have a murder occur at his feet (most of the time), and Kid's personal policies of never hurting anyone – besides their pride and dignity – greatly helped in that factor. It was nice to take a break from constant death, to work his mental skills against a brilliant opponent that didn't result in a body bag. Shinichi felt a little guilty, he really shouldn't be chasing a capricious thief when murderers might be roaming free, but he couldn't help but enjoy the brief respites Kid provided.

Of course, even if he did go, he wasn't quite sure how the thief would respond. Shinichi was fairly certain – no, make that dead certain – that the thief knew just who he was when he'd been Conan, although he'd never admitted it directly, but the times the thief had covered for him spoke volumes. He had wrested respect from Kid at the Black Pearl heist, and Shinichi wondered if that respect and the almost friendly rivalry between them would remain now that he was taller than the thief's waist.

It also irritated him when he realized that made him _worried_. How low had he fallen as Conan, to warrant holding a _criminal's _respect in such high regard that he was worried about keeping it?

Irritated and finished with his toast, Shinichi was no closer to a decision on his attendance and just decided to go to school and think more on it there. He still had vast amounts of make-up tests to do if he wanted to graduated with his age group on time, and if he missed any more school, even that option might be a bust.

As fate would have it, his decision was taken out of his own hands by one Suzuki Sonoko. Her fangirling and determination to win Kid's eye hadn't faded one bit, and now that she had Shinichi's skills in easy reach again, she was determined to use them.

He was sorely tempted to say just no and forget the heist due to Sonoko's insistence he went, but Ran had turned apologetic but amused eyes on him, asking him if it wouldn't be bad to go "just this once". And, with considerably more secret amusement, "I'm sure you'll find something to like about it".

Ran. It had been hard, confessing to her, and the week or so afterward she had been too furious to speak with him. Thankfully, she had calmed down, and asked for a second, more detailed explanation, and that day she left considerably more friendly. Even so, it was still awkward sometimes, and Shinichi often had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from tacking on the "-neechan" to her name. Still, she was glad he had told her and that he was back, and he could see it in her smile that she understood. She thought he was an idiot for thinking she needed such protection, but she understood.

He had to admit though, that he did regret how their relationship had turned after two long years as Conan. He'd always thought, had this vague future plan in the back of his mind, that one day he'd marry her and they'd have kids and it would be a happy little fairy tale. He'd had the feelings to do it, too, before he'd been shrunk.

But after two years of being her pseudo little brother, he found he just couldn't think of her romantically. It was hard to think of someone as a girlfriend when she picked you up and carried you like a doll half the time or scolded you to brush your teeth and be in bed by nine.

Ran, too, felt it. No longer came the blushing and stuttered denials from either of them when Sonoko slyly called them husband and wife, just calm corrections – amused exasperation on Ran's end, irritation on Shinichi's. The acted like brother and sister now, and honestly, it was more than Shinichi had hoped for after two years of lying to her. She'd said she'd been able to forgive him, because as Conan he always tried to take care of her, to reassure her Shinichi would be back. It showed he cared, that he wasn't doing it by choice. And Shinichi had felt no surprise when, last week, she'd casually discussed with him whether she should do some casual dating now or wait until college, or even after, and he'd felt no surge of jealousy. They had even chatted about it, Ran mostly scolding Shinichi for his admittedly dismal social life, or rather lack thereof.

Shinichi really couldn't help it. He'd always been terrible at making friends, Ran really being the only one he had his age, and trying out a romantic relationship with someone he hadn't known for a considerable period of time was just out of the question, he was too reserved for that. He supposed it's why he'd crushed on Ran at first. The only other girl he'd known well enough was Sonoko, and like _hell _he would harbor any mere iota of romance for _her_.

So, that day, he found himself folding under the look he'd privately come to call the "Ran-neechan Knows Best" look – she did remember how much _Conan_ had been interested in Kid after all – and wound up promising he'd be at the heist, trying to catch the thief if he could.

Well, he had wanted to go, anyways.

That's how Shinichi found himself on a rooftop, hands shoved into his coat pockets to protect them from the steadily increasing chill of the night air. He'd staked out this spot as the most probable escape route for the thief, so now all he had to do was wait for the show to be over downstairs and he would confront Kid.

Of course, he'd be lying if he said he was doing this to actually catch him. If he'd wanted that, he'd be in the building, trying to trap Kid into a small enclosed space with hopefully only one exit. The rooftops were Kid's element, and he'd undoubtedly find a way to get away from Shinichi, advantage of being his regular size again or no. But, in an effort to make himself not feel disgusted with his mind for its reluctance to catch Kid, he reasoned that tonight was just a test run, to see how Kid would react to Kudou Shinichi and if their old relationship and rules still stood. The thief didn't seem to be going anywhere after all – odd that, before his disappearance he'd been much more active in the international stage, now he mostly waited for the jewels to come to him in Japan, which was more proof of Shinichi's niggling theory this wasn't the first Kid – and there would be plenty more opportunities to catch him in the future.

Later, Shinichi would kick himself relentlessly for this decision.

He was blowing on his hands, idly wondering if he really should go down there and pursue the thief for real before he froze like a popsicle, when he heard the faintest rustle of fabric. The swooshing of it, and few seconds of faint flapping he'd heard, meant that his visitor was wearing something long that blew in the wind, like a trench coat – or a cape.

Sure enough, he looked up – a reflex he'd developed during his days as Conan, it was _always_ up with Kid – and there the thief sat, legs dangling over the side of the small maintenance building that Shinichi was currently leaning against, smirking at Shinichi with that ever-amused air.

"Well, well, I see my favorite critic has rejoined my game...with a new hand. So glad you decided to join us...Tantei-kun."

That was probably as close as Kaitou Kid would ever get to "Congratulations, welcome back".

Shinichi merely arched one dark eyebrow. Kid didn't seem very surprised, but then again, Shinichi had been back for over a month now, and though he kept a much lower media profile than before due to ingrained paranoia, his return had still been enough to ignite a small media frenzy. That, and if he knew the thief even the tiniest bit – which he hoped he did – Kid probably regularly staked out the homes of the detectives he considered "his", and hearing that Conan had "gone home" would have been enough to connect the dots.

Or, he might very well be surprised and was just hiding it. Kid's act was so flawless, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways.

"Aren't you a little worried that the task force is going to catch up with you, and that you're currently making small talk with a detective?" Shinichi asked dryly as Kid idly swung his feet, looking like he didn't have a care in the world, smile still in place.

"Oh, don't worry about my loyal followers, they're handling a rather...sticky situation right now-" – Shinichi immediately didn't want to know what said situation entailed – "-and it will take them fifteen minutes at the least to free themselves." Kid finished, waving a hand airily, before jumping off the building, landing on the ground and shoving his hands in his pockets as he faced Shinichi, hat and monocle hiding his features but his smile still visible.

"But I must ask you, Tantei-kun...you claim you're a detective, but you don't seem to be doing a very good job of trying to catch me. Hakuba would have attempted three times by now."

"I'm not much for taking useless odds," Shinichi shrugged, continuing to lean idly against the wall. Maybe he _would _make a half hearted attempt at catching the thief, just to surprise the bastard, but he'd probably been standing out here so long his legs were frozen to the ground. "If I'd really wanted to chase you tonight, I wouldn't confront you in an area that so blatantly tips the odds in your favor."

He got the impression that one eyebrow was cocked at that, an amused mirror of Shinichi's earlier expression, but the hat made it impossible to tell. "You never seemed to consider that before. In fact, I remember quite a lot of rooftops in our confrontations."

"No choice. As Conan, I wouldn't be able to direct anybody around, I could only follow and hope to catch you off-guard. If any of your task force had any sense, they would realize routing you off before you got to the target and made a big flashy show is far better than standing around like mannequins until the jewel's in your hand." Shinichi mildly replied, finally pushing himself off the wall and turning to face Kid directly. Of course, it would take a few heists yet to get anyone to follow his command. Inspector Nakamori had made his opinion on Shinichi very clear, mostly with a long tirade that had a lot of repetitions of "helicopter", "brat", and many colorful adjectives describing said words. It had been almost impressive.

"Is that so?" Came Kid's even tone, still in that mildly-amused voice, far too young-sounding for a thief of almost twenty years now, even if eight of those were out of commission. And Shinichi had heard enough unintended exclamations from the thief to guess it was his real voice. Soccer balls aimed at delicate parts tended to inspire that reaction.

"So, now that we've got that out of the way," Shinichi decided to continue breezily. Maybe if he kept up this too-casual front with the thief, he'd let his guard down one day. Unlikely, but it was another line to cast into the water in the hopes to land his catch. "Why don't you just hand over the jewel like a good thief and we'll be on our way? You'll just send it back anyways, save yourself the postage. It's freezing up here and I'd like to go home."

"Oh, but it's such a pretty jewel, I would at least like to admire it for a day, wouldn't you agree?" As he spoke, Kid snapped his fingers, and in a puff of smoke the jewel appeared, balanced on one finger. "I don't know if I want to give it up yet."

Shinichi just sighed. "It's a rock. Just do your strange little moon ritual and give it back if it's not what you're looking for. And then we can have a nice stress-free parting and I can go home and sleep in my _warm_ bed."

"My, my, someone's not very chipper tonight. Did you not get enough of that paint thinner you call coffee? I tried what you made for the task force, how you drink it I will never know." Kid flippantly replied, but moved to hold the gem up to the moon anyways. "And you seem to think I am searching for something. Whatever gave you that impression?"

"Different jewel each time, all with a specific set of requirements, always returned. Classic search pattern behavior. I think you even wrote a few times that some weren't what you were looking for. Your earlier heists since your re-emergence fit into the pattern less, but I suppose you picked up your goal along the way." Shinichi just shrugged as he watched the thief, Kid making an amused hum.

"You detectives do love to analyze, don't you..." Kid mused, still staring at the jewel, and Shinichi felt himself relaxing slightly. So far, Kid hadn't changed his demeanor at all from when he'd been Conan, although the mocking was a little less present, more like friendly teasing by now. They had, after all, had been doing this for over a year now.

Friendly teasing from a thief. When had his life gotten so weird? Well, he knew the answer to that was in a little red and white pill, but still. Shinichi tried to push down the guilt about being happy that Kid seemed to accept Shinichi, that their little rivalry could continue. He wanted to _catch_ the thief, not play with him.

Kid, he noticed, was taking entirely too long staring at that jewel. Usually the strange habit was over in a few seconds – another clue it was a search pattern – so the fact that Kid was still enthralled in it meant that he was either seeing something he looking for, or he was lost in thought.

Or he was receiving beams from the mothership about his next instructions to drive human beings insane. Who knew.

"See something interesting?" He finally decided to ask, as a full minute passed and Kid seemed riveted like a statue. "Like what you're looking for?"

Kid was silent for a moment – if he was ignoring Shinichi he was getting a soccer ball to the back of his head, frozen feet or not – but eventually made another hum. "...Not quite. But I must say, this light show is rather interesting."

"Light show?" Despite himself, Shinichi moved forward in curiosity. Always his curiosity, damn it. Sure enough, dancing in the jewel were bright little silver lines, like if the stars rumored to be seen in the gem all decided to play pachinko in no gravity. It was rather pretty, even if it was making Shinichi stare at it in dumbfounded amazement. Rocks _didn't do that_.

He took another step forward to see more clearly, and suddenly the lights started to slowly get brighter, enough to cast dancing silvery lines across the thief's hidden face. A face which suddenly lost its air of perpetual amusement and took on one of confusion and slight worry as he lowered it from the moon.

This did not stop the light show. If anything, the lights kept getting brighter, and now Shinichi was staring at the jewel in worry as well. "...Uh. Is it supposed to be doing that, Kid?"

"...I must admit, I have no idea." Kid replied, voice still calm but a frown was starting to pull the corners of his mouth down. "Perhaps I should have researched this particular jewel's legend a bit more-!"

Kid suddenly let out a startled yelp as the jewel suddenly lit up like a lightbulb, bright enough Shinichi couldn't look directly at it. And hot, too, if if the sudden smell of singed silk and Kid's slightly pained voice were any indication.

Shinichi found himself reacting on pure instinct as a detective and as someone who'd spent two long years doing his best to protect everyone – _dangerous object, hurting someone, must remove object_ – and found his hand flashing out to grab the jewel. To take it or at least knock it out of Kid's hands, he wasn't sure, but he found his fingers closing around the gem, frigid to his own touch despite what it was doing to Kid's glove.

But Kid was a magician on top of being a thief, and was a master at both, and his hands had long been trained to grip like iron if needed, even when wearing slippery silk gloves. He didn't let go of the jewel as Shinichi grabbed and tried to yank it as well.

That's when everything went to hell. The jewel suddenly surged, brighter than before, and the light show become multicolored and prismatic on top of that. The distant part of Shinichi's brain not absorbed in panic over a gem that seemed to be going nuclear observed that probably the entire city for a mile around now knew were they were, judging by brightness and intensity. The rest of him continued panicking.

"Tantei-kun, let-!" He distantly heard Kid's voice, seemingly in a rare state of distress, but before Kid could complete his sentence he was cut off and Shinichi knew no more.

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Next chapter coming soon. Reviews always appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2: Far Far Away

Author's Notes: I did say it was coming soon. XD Chapter three will probably take a little longer, I haven't started working on it yet, but I will once this is uploaded.

As always, the boys aren't mine. Shinichi has a bit of a mouth. Thusly warned, proceed dear readers!

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**Chapter Two**

Far Far Away

The first thing Shinichi registered when he came to was that his head and neck were very itchy.

He simply laid there for a moment, trying to categorize what he was feeling as he slowly woke up. He wasn't in his bed at home, that was obvious, as he seemed to be lying on grass. That explained the itchiness, grass had always made him itchy.

So he was outside, lying in the grass, unsure where he was. For one horrible moment he thought he was reliving the nightmare of turning into Conan, but it was daylight, if the warmth on his face was any indication, and his body didn't hurt anywhere. It felt like lead and and his brain felt like it was running on only one cylinder instead of four, but there was no pain. So, presumably, this was not a nightmare about Conan, and he wasn't in any immediate danger. His hearing seemed to be working fine as well, as all he heard was birds and the faint hum of urban life in the distance.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and then had to close them again at the sunlight. Very bright. After a moment, he managed to open his eyes again and keep them open, slowly becoming accustomed to the light.

Apparently, he was lying face down in what seemed like a park. There was a path not too far away. No one around that he could see. Satisfied that it seemed safe to move, he managed to move his limbs – had his legs ever been this heavy? – and sit up.

His first method of order was to pat himself down, checking for any injuries that might have led to this state. But there were no obvious wounds, no bleeding or bruises that he could see, and no pain. So perhaps he'd been drugged? It might explain how sluggish he felt. But if he'd been drugged, there was no reason to leave him lying in a park in broad daylight. Perhaps a robbery, but a quick search revealed he still had what he'd carried – his keys, cellphone, case notebook, and wallet, money intact – and unless the target was high-profile, there was no reason to drug him. A mugging would have seemed the better option for any thief targeting a supposedly nameless and harmless teen who couldn't be guaranteed to carry anything worth the effort. It also didn't seem like an assassin or anyone sent by the remnants of the Organization, as then he would be dead and not blinking stupidly at the line of trees in his vision, beyond which he could see buildings rising above. Park had been a correct guess.

So, he was sitting in a park, no idea how he got there, and no guess as to why. He frowned, trying to remember what had happened before he passed out. Right, Kid heist, and he'd been with the thief, and then the jewel...

Shinichi was startled out of his thoughts by a rustling behind him, and he whirled around to confront the source of the noise. His body was still disorientated, however, and he spent a minute teetering drunkenly before he regained his balance, putting his hand on the ground to keep him steady.

Behind him, Kaitou Kid laid in the grass, top hat knocked off and askew beside his head in the grass, and one silk-gloved hand covering his eyes, grimacing. He seemed to be suffering the same effects as Shinichi, so whatever the gem had done to him, it had done to Kid too.

The hand not preoccupied with shielding its owner's eyes from the sunlight now groped around, as if looking for something, perhaps his top hat Shinichi just found himself staring at it. It didn't seem right to look up at Kid's face, somehow. He might move his hand unthinkingly, not knowing Shinichi was there, and without his hat and the shadows it cast at night his face would be obvious. The monocle would do little to obscure any features in bright daylight without the hat. And it just...was wrong to find out that way. It should be a fair fight.

Shinichi grimaced at himself for thinking in such a way – this was Kid, a criminal, not a game, fair fighting shouldn't even be in consideration right now – but continued watching the searching hand as it moved closer and closer, until it brushed the side of Shinichi's leg.

Kid froze for a long moment, apparently now realizing he wasn't alone, and Shinichi was rather surprised it had taken him this long. Usually Kid was always aware of what happened around him, even when he seemed to be confused or disabled. Then again, Shinichi hadn't realized he wasn't alone at first either, and he'd spent two years being so jumpy of other people's presences he now found it almost impossible to stand without his back to a wall. If Kid was feeling anything like Shinichi when he woke up, it was reasonable to assume that even the thief's brilliant mind was also being slow to reboot.

The hand disappeared suddenly as Kid sat up in a rush, who then promptly seemed to regret sitting up at all as he wavered slightly. His balance was better than Shinichi's though, so he steadied after a mere second. Shinichi kept his gaze fixed on Kid's tie. It seemed a safe place to look.

There was a pause as Kid turned his way, and then a soft rush of air, like someone letting out their breath after holding it, and Shinichi saw Kid relax minutely. It was hard to tell with the thief – the fact Shinichi could tell at all spoke volumes about how disorientated the thief must be – but it was there. Apparently he'd seen Shinichi, and realized he was not surrounded by the police or curious passerby with his face exposed during his unintentional nap. So Kid saw Shinichi as safe. That was an interesting fact, and he filed it away to study later when he could do more than stare dumbly at Kid's tie and when he didn't feel like he was swimming through molasses to think.

"So, Tantei-kun," Kid's voice was remarkably even, if a little breathy. "I admit, when that gem lit up like a disco ball, waking up next to you as we apparently sunbathed in a park was not an outcome I had in my list." A beat, and then a much more amused tone. "You can look up, you know. As fashionable as my tie is, if I were a woman right now there would be a lot more yelling and possibly a slap."

Shinichi dragged his gaze up, flushing a bit, and he scowled at the thief, who was now grinning at him from under the safety of his top hat He'd apparently put it on, though Shinichi really hadn't seen him move to do it. Stage magicians, urgh.

Letting out a huff, Shinichi folded his arms, glaring at the thief. The gem did this to them, and the only reason it could have was because Kid had stolen it from a nice safe display case, and therefore Shinichi decided to place the blame of this strange predicament on the thief's shoulders. "I don't suppose you know _why _we're here, do you? It's your stupid target that did this."

Kid merely shrugged, the cape fluffing out a bit at his movement. "The only legends I read about it were about the stars in it. Nothing about spontaneous transportation."

Which was just a long-winded way of saying that no, Kid didn't know why either. Shinichi sighed, unfolding his arms to run one hand through his hair in exasperation. He decided to go to the root of the problem. "Take that gem out and let's have a look at it. But if it starts again I'd recommend throwing it."

There was a long, searching silence, and Shinichi suddenly felt his stomach drop. The silence didn't feel intentional, and Kid was _never_ at a loss for words. This had Bad Sign written all over it.

"...I don't seem to have it." Kid stated almost delicately, and Shinichi lifted his head to stare at the thief, who was staring at his singed glove in bemusement. "It's not on me."

"What!" Shinichi was in disbelief. "You had that thing in a vice grip when it went off, and you're telling me you don't have it?"

Kid shrugged again, giving Shinichi an almost apologetic look. "I did have it in my hand when we were...transported, but I don't now. And it's not in my inventory, I checked. Is it on you? You were, after all, holding onto it too, Tantei-kun."

Shinichi scowled at him, but looked around himself on the grass anyways. He'd done a check of his clothes already, it certainly wasn't in his pockets. "No, I don't have it. I don't see it either."

"...That is, admittedly, a problem. I've never failed to return a heist, and losing it will put a damper on maintaining that record." Kid stated as he suddenly stood up in a fluid motion. He already seemed to have shook off all effects of the...transportation. Shinichi decided to go with Kid's term, it was a nice, safe term and didn't imply anything other than they were moved by something, which they had been.

Shinichi sighed, standing up himself. His head was still a bit of a cotton candy mess, but his balance seemed back, at least. He shook his head, feeling disbelief rise again. It was a little hard to believe that a simple gem was the cause of all this, and as his brain got more on track, it started questioning it. A trick of Kid's? Possible, the thief could certainly act all this out, but there wasn't a motivation for that. There was no way Kid would just knock him out and wait until day to lie around in a park, it made no sense, and even Kid wasn't that illogical. He pranked people, yes, but only while his heists were actually happening. There was no reason for him to create this ridiculous situation.

He folded his arms again as he frowned, starting to think, not noticing the thief watching him curiously. All right then, maybe someone else besides Kid did it. Maybe Kid had been the target, maybe Shinichi, maybe both. Ugh, too many maybes, and the motivation was missing there as well. The people who would want to do that wouldn't put their captives out in public for a catnap, they'd want to put Kid in jail, or worse, kill the both of them.

So the explanation that made the most logical sense was that the gem indeed had done this to them, for reasons unknown. Shinichi wanted to slap himself for thinking it, but he wasn't about to rule it out. Implausible over improbable and all that, and he was more willing to admit there was strange things in the world when he found himself de-aged ten years. Still, weird science was one thing, and magic was another, and Shinichi really didn't want to believe he'd been teleported by _a stupid rock that was now lost_.

"...kun? Hey, Tantei-kun! Earth to Kudou!"

The voice, and the sound of fingers snapping in front of his face brought Shinichi reeling out of his thoughts. He blinked rapidly at Kid, who was standing in front of him with a smirk, hand still raised in front of Shinichi from his bid to get the detective's attention. "Finished your soul-searching?"

Shinichi growled, pushing the hand away from his face, Kid surprisingly letting him. "I was thinking, you moron, I know it's a novel concept to you. And you're the one who communicates with the mothership, not me."

"Mothership?" One eyebrow, barely visible under wide brim and messy bangs, arched upwards at that statement. A smirk dismissed the brief look of bemusement. "Well, if you were thinking such deep thoughts, Tantei-kun, surely you wouldn't mind sharing them?"

He glared at the thief, who merely kept smiling back at him. "For your information, I was trying to figure out how we got here. It wasn't you, not even you would go this far for a stupid prank, and its certainly not anyone who wants our hides, because then we'd be dead or you in jail and not here. So that leaves the gem, but I don't know how we could be knocked out for hours and miraculously moved far away from original location by a _fucking rock_!" Okay, so he seemed to be having a minor temper tantrum. It was better than indulging in a breakdown, at least.

"...I would ask what rocks ever did to you to deserve such hatred, but we're standing in Exhibit A." Kid seemed entirely too amused by all this. "Well, while I admit I'm disappointed you would think I wouldn't go to any lengths to complete my art, you are right in that this isn't my doing. And I can't think of a reason why it would be anyone else's, either. So yes, that leaves the gem."

Here the thief laid one finger on his lips, seemingly in thought. "So, it's a magic gem. I'd always had my doubts any of it was real, but some personal experiences opened me up to the idea, and this is certainly more evidence. Of course, this doesn't tell us where it went, or where we are, for that matter. I don't suppose you recognize this park, do you?"

Shinichi twitched at the word "magic". It just felt...wrong to his mind to admit such a thing existed. But dwelling on that wasn't solving their problem, so he shoved it into the back of his mind, determined not to think on it until he collected more evidence – hopefully proving it all an elaborate hoax. Shinichi liked denial. He looked around, cataloging the trees and buildings. It certainly wasn't any park he knew, nor did he recognize any of the buildings. "No, I don't."

"Well, that is a problem." Kid sighed dramatically. "It is rather difficult to find a lost object when you yourself are lost. We need to find out where we are first, and I'm going to attract far too much attention in this outfit." At that, Kid snapped his fingers again, disappearing into a cloud of smoke. Shinichi instinctively covered his mouth and nose – one could never be too careful with Kid – but the smoke quickly dissipated, leaving behind Kid, who was now dressed in a nondescript t-shirt and jeans ensemble, baseball cap pulled low over his face and sunglasses in place. The grin didn't change, though. "So, shall we find ourselves, Tantei-kun?"

Shinichi glared at him dispassionately. He wasn't sure if had the energy to deal with more of the thief right now. "Why do I have to search with you? I can find my own way home."

Kid held up a hand, ticking off points with his fingers. "Because one, two heads are better than one at this, especially two as good as ours. Two, we cannot be entirely certain we are even in Japan anymore and I don't find the thought of being lost alone in a foreign country appealing, and three, I find it hard to believe you are completely fine with the idea of letting me find the gem by myself. You were so adamant about getting it back on the roof, after all."

Honestly, at this point, Shinichi never wanted to see that hunk of minerals ever again and debated telling Kid so, but he had to grudgingly admit the thief had a point. Being lost in an unknown place all alone didn't sound too fun to him either, and they'd certainly figure it out faster together.

Besides, it did feel a little bit like losing if he let Kid just waltz away with the gem. He wanted to believe he still had _some_ standards as a detective, weird camaraderie with Kid or no.

Sighing once more and resigning himself to his fate of playing watchdog to the playful thief for at least a little longer, Shinichi dropped his arms.

"...So which way are we headed first?"

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><p><p>

As always, reviews are appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3: Not In Kansas

Author's Notes: A little short, but I couldn't think of a way to continue it past the last line. I'll just write more for chapter four instead.

Kaito's POV this time, it'll go back and forth. Might be every other chapter, might be when I feel like it lol. Thusly warned, proceed!

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><p><p>

**Chapter Three**

Not In Kansas

A minutes later found them walking out of the park and down the nearest street, Kid the very image of nonchalance with his hands in his pockets and smile firmly in place.

Kaito's mind, however, was anything but. It was times like these where he was very grateful that a lot of his Poker Face was able to operate on automatic. The rest of him was busily thinking about how to get out of this.

He had to admit he'd had a very un-Kid-like panic attack when, in his mental cataloging when he woke up, he realized that a.) he was in his Kid outfit, b.) it was _broad daylight_ and he wasn't wearing his top hat, and c.) he'd realized he wasn't alone. He'd been sure then and there that he'd be surrounded by police, all of him who would now know his identity.

But he'd opened his eyes to nothing but empty park, and one Kudou Shinichi who had been staring fixedly at his tie.

He couldn't hide the relief he'd felt at that. Tantei-kun, while his most brilliant opponent, was also the one with the strongest adherence to their unspoken "rules" of a Kid heist. Kaito suspected that the detective didn't even really want to catch him anymore – that he came just for the riddles and the chase.

Though if the detective himself was aware of it or not, Kaito had no idea.

So, thankfully, it was Kudou and not Hakuba or – god forbid – Inspector Nakamori who'd been holding onto the gem with him. Though he doubted either of them would have been able to get that close to him, anyways.

He kept the frown that thought drew off his face, but he kept considering it. Indeed, he'd let Kudou get far too close. While he did believe that the detective meant what he said when Kudou said he wasn't try to catch Kid last night – hopefully it was last night and not last _week _or something – there was the chance that Kudou wouldn't think twice about turning him in if he got his hands on any real facts. It was one thing to know that Kudou hadn't looked at his face – it was another to realize that Kaito himself felt entirely too relaxed in his presence. Playing by the "rules" or not, Kudou was still a detective.

He was enough of a master at body language to read his own, and the fact that he hadn't immediately hid the gem away or moved or something when Kudou had grabbed at it when it did its hocus-pocus thing said something. Hell, he'd even let the detective _touch_ him willingly when the other had pushed away his arm in irritation earlier. It was one thing to haul Conan around – as long as he stayed out of the way of the kid's gadgets there was little a seven-year-old could do to unmask him – but Kudou was a whole different kettle of—urgh, wrong metaphor.

Kaito shook his head imperceptibly at that thought, looking at Kudou out of the corners of his eyes without the detective noticing – wraparound sunglasses were so useful. The other teen looked considerably more irritated with the situation as a whole, although he'd stopped his mutterings about "stupid thieves who couldn't keep their hands to themselves when they saw something shiny" a while back.

Kaito hadn't been entirely honest with the detective earlier – really, when was he? – when he'd listed his points to convince the detective to go along with him. There was another point on that list, and that was one Kaito was keeping to himself. It probably would have driven the detective to say no anyways.

He _had _to figure out where he stood with the detective. He'd grown used to trusting little Conan to help him when their goals matched – and that was kind of degrading right there – but he needed to see if Kudou would hold to the same standards. If not, he'd have to spend a while training himself to not trust the detective and to again treat him like the rest of the masses out to catch him.

If he _could _trust Kudou, well, they could just continue their little game, then. It was so _boring_ at heists without him, after all.

So far, everything seemed to be pointing towards option two. The detective hadn't unmasked him, even though he'd woken up earlier than Kaito – had gone out of his way to prevent it, actually – and here they were, walking side by side down an unknown street with minimal convincing on Kaito's part. Kaito couldn't have had a better setup to study the detective if he'd tried.

With that sorted out in his head, Kaito decided to start on the other problem – mainly, where the hell they were.

None of this scenery looked familiar at all, and that was saying something for a thief that had toured most of the metropolitan Tokyo area in pursuit of one gem or another. If he could get higher, maybe, he could find landmarks, but all the buildings around them seemed to be offices, and it was obviously working hours. It wouldn't have been a problem if Kaito was planning, as it would be a simple matter to disguise as an office worker and make his merry way to the roof, but that was usually after at least a week of observation to find out who he should disguise as and getting the layout of the building. Wandering around an unknown building, even in a disguise, was just asking for trouble.

He also had Kudou to worry about, who probably would give him a very disgruntled look, although it would probably be more about Kaito telling him to wait outside than the whole illegal trespassing bit. He'd noticed Kudou's morals tended to suddenly become very flexible whenever there was a more pressing matter. He'd probably insist on going in with Kaito, and then Kaito would have to worry not only about himself but about Kudou who, while his acting skills had grown admirably over the two years he'd been Conan, probably wasn't up for a perfect impersonation just yet. If they had to stay together for more than a day perhaps he'd have to give the detective lessons, and wasn't that a thought.

So, rooftop perusal was out of the question, so that left finding a recognizable map or landmark by foot. If he could just _see_ the skyline, he'd be able to orientate himself if they were anywhere in Tokyo, but the buildings were a hindrance in that area too.

Absorbed in his thoughts, Kaito almost didn't notice when Kudou stopped abruptly in his tracks. Thankfully he did, as otherwise he would have missed the flash of horror on Kudou's face before it faded into stunned disbelief as he stared at something. That didn't look good.

"...Tantei-kun?" He ventured, but Kudou remained silent, looking all for the world as if a unicorn had pranced in front of his eyes. Kaito had to reflexively swallow down his dread as he slowly turned, lining up his gaze with the object holding Kudou's undivided attention. And immediately he almost wished he hadn't.

It was a simple street sign, informing them that the busy intersection they were almost upon was the crossing of Haido 2nd Street and Fujimi Road. It would be completely ordinary, except for one little fact.

This intersection was only two blocks away from the scene of the ill-fated heist last night. Kaito had crossed it possibly over twenty times at least, in his preparations. And he knew damn well that there was no other intersection in Tokyo with those street names, but all the buildings were horribly unfamiliar.

Distantly, he began looking at the buildings, noting the street numbers as Poker Face was fighting a losing battle against showing his surprise and fear on his face. The numbers he recognized too, and he vaguely noted, with growing horror, that he could calculate the area of the park as it would be in his memories of this area...

...And put it right at where the building his heist was at was supposed to be standing.

Kaito just stood there, dumbfounded. Was this some sort of horrible prank? Had the city decided that it would repay him for his pranks against the police force and play one on Kaitou Kid by changing out road signs? But he knew that couldn't be possible, especially as he just knew that if he shifted like so and glanced through the gaps in the buildings he would see Tokyo Tower, the top visible through the gap and mockingly telling Kaito that this was no prank.

Somehow, someway, this entire city area – and possibly even more – had been uprooted and replaced by another, with everyone carrying on as normal. Or...

Or he and Kudou were the uprooted ones, placed somewhere else – like a different world. A twisted mirror, having all the trappings of their home but terribly, terribly different.

Kaito found himself swallowing, and he took a deep breath, schooling his features into, if not amusement, at least blank apathy. He couldn't lose it in the middle of the street, especially as Kudou hadn't seemed to move from his frozen state as Kaito had processed and fought through his own shock. He turned to look back at the detective, who was still staring at the sign, though the disbelief had turned into a lost look that made the detective look years younger and uncomfortably like his shrunken self.

Kaito shook himself slightly. Even if this was getting weirder and weirder by the second, they couldn't be standing here like a pair of particularly unimaginative mimes. And he was sure Kudou wouldn't appreciate just how vulnerable he was looking right now, so Kaito had better snap the detective out of it.

He reached out and placed his hand on Kudou's shoulder, shaking it as he attempted to get the detective's attention. It took several shakes and repetitions of his nickname to do so, and Kudou finally tore his gaze away from the street sign to blink owlishly at Kaito. Kaito smiled at him, hoping it didn't look as strained as it felt.

"Well...we know where we are now, right?"

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><p><p>

Reviews always appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4: Broken LookingGlass

Author's Notes: Sorry this took forever. I had a horrible time trying to figure out how to work this, and I still think it's doing a lot of things wrong. I rewrote the last two pages like five times and I'm still not satisfied with how calm Shinichi looks (he's not, but he's in crisis mode and thus looks calmer than he is) or how to make their situation not...awkward. I think things through too much, and defeat most of my own writing, heh. I'm still concerned it's not logical enough.

But I was tired of sitting on this damn thing, so out it goes. The next chapter is going much more smoothly as we move more into things happening and not exposition. Also it will hopefully be longer.

As always, boys not mine and such.

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><p><p>

**Chapter Four**  
>Broken Looking-Glass<p>

A short while after the rather horrifying discovery found Shinichi and Kid in the Beika Library.

After Kid had brought him out of his horror, Shinichi had been stricken with an urge to know what was different, and to desperately search for any proof that this could still be an elaborate prank. Damn his detective curiosity, it got him into so much trouble, but he still had to _know_.

So, he'd turned for the train station, and Kid had fallen into step behind him with cat-quiet feet, not saying anything. Shinichi half-suspected that Kid was thankful that at least Shinichi seemed to have a goal in mind, though the thief was never without a plan. Whatever the reason, the thief was content to follow him in silence.

Then again, he'd probably never dealt with supposedly jumping dimensions or something before. Not that Shinichi had, but thankfully the whole Conan incident had given him just enough exposure to weird things that he was able to shove everything into the back of his head so he could just think about it _later_. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism. For now, he focused on finding out exactly what was different with this "world", and his mind jumped on the distraction eagerly.

There was a minor internal debate in the thankfully-unmoved train station – did their money even work in this dimension, should they use it even if it _did_? – but Shinichi decided that perhaps once was all right, as once they were in Beika they were in his territory...hopefully. His house probably didn't exist anymore, but he _wasn't thinking about that_.

Thankfully the library hadn't moved or changed much in the...transportation. Shinichi made a beeline for the computers, figuring them the safest and quickest way to learn about everything.

He'd fumbled a bit with the unfamiliar operating system at first, as it wasn't any he'd had seen before, and with Agasa as his next-door neighbor, that was saying a lot. It proved to be rather user-friendly, though, and Shinichi soon found himself clicking through web searches as Kid sat behind him, hands seemingly shuffling a card deck on autopilot.

A sort of morbid curiosity hit Shinichi, and he found himself typing in his own name and hitting the search button. It would make things more difficult if he ran into himself...as long as this really was a...dimension jump or something and not just a prank. Shinichi really, really hoped it was still a prank.

His brow furrowed as the results popped up. _Nothing_ together. Instead, it brought up listings about his father's books, though most Shinichi had never heard of. Apparently "Shinichi" was a character that popped up often in his books. Had even his father's creative visions changed in this world? That was a cold thought. But it seemed that the internet had never heard of high school detective Kudou Shinichi, which was odd. Even one online newspaper that had his name would return as a hit, and as more relevant than his father's books. He paused, then searched his mother. Maybe he'd get some more information there.

That proved even more fruitless than his name. "Kudou" and "Yukiko" had absolutely no connection to each other at all, and that was really odd, as neither of his parents had ever made a secret of their marriage...

His hands froze over the keyboard. Unless... 

Slowly he typed in Fujimine Yukiko and hit the search button. _That_ returned tons of results, all raving about the actress, and even information about her newest movie, premiering next week. But his mother had retired from acting when he was born...

Shinichi sat there for a moment, trying to process that. Admittedly, he'd been prepared for himself to not exist, or even be a girl or something else twisted. But a reality where his parents had never married and, according to the internet, had probably never even _met_ was far more disconcerting. Shinichi could deal with not existing in an abstract fashion, but the idea of his parents not being together was...foreign. Sure, his mom threw a temper tantrum every once in a while and threatened to leave his dad for more than a month, but Shinichi hadn't ever worried about that being real. She always went back, after all, and always seemed the happier for it, at least until Shinichi had to endure another ranting phone call about the newest stupid stunt his dad pulled. But his parents not being his parents was an idea that might as well have been on the moon for how foreign it seemed.

A creak brought him out of his thoughts, and he glanced over his shoulder. Kid was now leaning forward, arms propped on the back of Shinichi's chair as he read over Shinichi's shoulder. Shinichi had a moment's thought to knock the thief off for invading his private space like that, but he doubted it would do much good. The idiot probably didn't even realize it as rude, he was weird like that.

Shinichi blinked, and on a half-formed idea, he typed in the thief's name for a search. He felt more than heard Kid shifting again, attention obviously peaked. He wanted to know as much Shinichi, probably.

Kaitou Kid, at least, existed in this world too, if the many hits were anything to go off of. Shinichi clicked the first link – a comprehensive list of heists on a fan site, it seemed – and he felt his eyebrows raising. The list was...extensive. Far more heists were listed than Shinichi remembered being attributed to Kid, indeed, even more than his old heists and the ones from his revival combined.

A quick scroll through the list told why – this universe's Kid had never had that eight-year-long retirement. He'd been active from his appearance twenty years ago to his most recent heist of last month, and there weren't any intervals longer than three months. This Kid had been...busy, it seemed.

Shinichi almost missed the small intake of breath behind him, only hearing it since the thief seemed plastered to his shoulder as he read avidly. Apparently this meant something to Kid, although Shinichi could really only wildly speculate based on what he knew. If there wasn't any long disappearance, he could guess that all of these heists were by the same person, unlike his "world". So that meant that this Kid probably wasn't the one behind him, who reached out and tapped Shinichi's hand on the mouse rather impatiently when Shinichi didn't scroll down fast enough for the thief's liking. He obediently moved the page down a decent way as he thought.

So, if this was the same Kid, the original Kid, that meant that whatever happened to him hadn't happened here, if Shinichi had to guess. The Kid he knew, after all, was far too young. Kid was a master of disguise, true, but there were small things no one would be able to fake. He was almost never out of the country, which made no sense for a thief that formerly toured the world with some regularity unless one realized that he possibly didn't have the ability to travel so freely, which hinted he was someone famous, or underage, possibly both. He was far too nimble for his supposed age, as even the most well-trained athletes wouldn't move like they were twenty years younger when they were supposedly ten years _older_. After all, Kid was supposedly twenty years older now. Considering he'd been international since the beginning, that hinted at him being at least eighteen then, which made the most conservative estimate of his age at almost forty. If one factored in the experience and skills probably needed to begin life as a magician thief unless trained since birth, that probably added on quite a bit. And no matter how good Kid was good at changing his voice, there was no way to hide the youthful tone in his voice and his speech patterns when he slipped out of the formal speech. Not to mention that in all the visual media and speculation he could get on the first Kid, he estimated the current Kid at several inches shorter and about thirty pounds _lighter_ than the older version. He'd gained some of that back during the two years they'd known each other, but there was still a discrepancy. The new Kid was just built _differently_ than the first; he'd maybe get the height, but he was too thin and wiry, he'd never get the broadness the other had if Shinichi had any guess. All in all, everything Shinichi knew about observing people – and that was a lot, thank you very much, no detective would get far after all if they couldn't give an immediate and accurate age, height, and weight reading at first glance – screamed that the current Kid probably hadn't even been _born_ when Kaitou Kid first appeared on the world stage.

Another tap on his hand brought him out of his musings, and Shinichi had to stop himself from making an irritated noise as he scrolled down. If Shinichi's speculations were correct – _if _– then the first Kid had been someone important to this one. After all, one just didn't put themselves on the most wanted list in at least twenty countries for any old stranger off the street. So Kid deserved his time to read, too. He could at least ask nicely, though.

Suddenly Kid shifted, bringing both arms around Shinichi to assume command of the keyboard and mouse – Shinichi couldn't help the startled squeak and tensing, that was _too_ close damn it, did Kid have _no_ idea of personal space! – and the thief went back to the search engine. He typed out something rapidly – "current famous magicians"...? – then paused, apparently realizing that yes, Shinichi was still watching, and was still a detective. His hand hovered over the enter key indecisively.

Well, Shinichi had been able to search, Kid should be able to, too. His detective instincts were yelling at him, but Shinichi didn't really want to break that weird trust Kid seemed to have in him. It just wouldn't be fair, after all, and hell, he didn't even exist in this world anymore, and Kid possibly didn't either. That would make a real show if he tried to turn him in here – "Yes, officer, I promise this man is Kid even if he doesn't exist in your records, and I promise I'm a trustworthy individual even though I don't exist, either" – and even if he did it when they got back – when not if – what sane officer would accept proof gotten in, apparently, another dimension? Shinichi might as well walk to the mental hospital himself, it would save the trouble of being dragged there by claiming such wild things.

So Shinichi let out an irritated breath and closed his eyes, turning his head slightly away so Kid got the message. Damn it, Kid had better remember this. Shinichi was not letting him get away from _everything_ scotch free.

There was a moment longer of pause for the thief, before there was the slightest puff of air – deliberate, Kid was letting him know he understood the intentions – and Kid shifted minutely There was a strike of the enter key, and then a long silence.

Shinichi resisted the urge to open his eyes to check on the thief. He had felt Kid tense – hard not to, if there hadn't been a chair in the way Kid would be practically wrapped around him – and he could only assume that Kid had run into something shocking. But he'd promised himself, so he limited himself to only jostling the thief a bit with his shoulder. Right to search or no, he really didn't need this position. He wasn't used to having people so close.

There was a sharp breath, like Kid started breathing again, before there was a few clicking sounds and then as abruptly as he had leaned forward, he suddenly sat back. The almost-chill of the departure had Shinichi open his eyes automatically. Thankfully Kid had apparently exited out of his search, as all that met Shinichi's eyes was the blank page of the search engine's main site.

Slightly concerned for the thief, Shinichi turned in his seat to look at him, frowning slightly. Kid didn't acknowledge him for a moment, face an impassive mask behind his sunglasses, before he seemed to shake himself a little and grinned disarmingly at Shinichi.

"So, Tantei-kun, have we found what we're looking for?"

"I could ask you the same question." Shinichi replied blandly, before sighing, running a hand through his hair as he thought. "...I...this can't be a prank, can it? Hundreds of webpages of information don't change overnight."

"No they don't." The thief murmured in agreement, and Shinichi looked at him sharply. What had he seen that seemed to shock him so much...? Kid shook his head a bit. "...Which means, we might need to plan to be here more than a day, don't you think? From what I read about you, you might get weird looks introducing yourself, especially if you tried to go home."

Shinichi had been trying not to think about that. It felt wrong to think about his parents not being together. It was strange, such a simple little decision and Shinichi wouldn't have existed...right, not thinking about it. But Kid was right. If this really was...real...they had no choice. They had to find that jewel and find their way home, and unless it was sitting on the library steps with a bright neon sign, that would probably take a while.

Shinichi frowned and crossed his arms. "Where, though? We, or at least I, don't exist here, and since we have no ID here..."

"Well, I could probably get a bit of money by street-preforming, but it wouldn't be much unless I went all out, and that would probably draw too much attention." Kid drawled as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. "Which leaves us with three options, really...steal money and use it, live like hobos, or get fake identification to land something more permanent. None of which are very appealing, but honestly, we seem to have no other options."

Shinichi rather felt like he'd just swallowed a lemon, but he sighed and nodded anyways. He'd realized the same things. It burned to know that just to get home, he'd probably be doing some highly illegal things. He really shouldn't have gone to that stupid heist. "Fake identification it is. I'm not stealing anything directly, and I am _not_ sleeping on some porch. Won't be too different from what I had to do as Conan." He sighed again, running a hand through his hair. "It figures, one hour with you and already I'm committing crimes. This whole situation is your fault."

"I'll have you know I'm a very upstanding citizen." Kid put a hand on his chest in mock affront. "I would never consider such things either unless it was a pressing situation such as now."

Shinichi snorted. "Says the person with over a hundred counts of trespassing, breaking and entering, and grand larceny to his name. Not to mention all the other infractions you've racked up. I'm pretty sure Inspector Nakamori has a write-up of every indignity he's suffered at your hands ready to be charged against you for obstructing the justice, too."

"You have too little faith in me, Tantei-kun." Was Kid _pouting_? No, there was the grin. "And I'll remind you that it's technically only theft when the intent is to deprive the owner of the object permanently. I merely borrow for a little while."

"I would love to meet the god of a lawyer who could actually pull that definition off in court." Shinichi stated dryly, before sighing again and giving the computer a contemplative look. It was no Windows, but a few hours with it should give him plenty of time to crack how it worked. He silently thanked next-door eccentric neighbors who insisted on teaching young boys how to do basic hacking. "Well, let's add forgery to your charges. But we probably shouldn't be doing this stuff here. Where should we go until then?"

There was a brief pause, and Shinichi looked at Kid in curiosity. The thief was staring at the computer, face neutrally blank again. What had upset him this time? "...Kid?"

Kid paused, and then grinned disarmingly at Shinichi, who returned it with his best "I'm not buying it" look, honed with long practice from his parents. The thief kept grinning, undisturbed. Shinichi suddenly had a horrible feeling he knew exactly where. "_No way._"

"No one would suspect us for it, as you technically don't exist."

"It probably doesn't exist, either!"

"You can't say that. It didn't depend on you existing, did it?"

"Well no, but still...what if he's home!"

"Didn't you read, Tantei-kun? He's in a book signing in Australia."

Shinichi groaned as the thief kept grinning at him and thumped his head against the back of the chair. He couldn't believe they were doing this.

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><p><p>

Reviews always appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5: Stray Child

Author Notes: Just more setting up, really, and revealing the truth about alter-reality Toichi and Kaito. I'm evil. Heheheh.

Standard warnings and disclaimers apply!

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><p><p>

**Chapter Five**

Stray Child

"I can't believe we're doing this." Kudou grumbled from underneath him as Kaito industriously worked open the window, bypassing the alarm with long practice.

"Just think of it as having lost your keys, Tantei-kun!" Kaito chirruped merrily as he grinned, the window sliding open silently. Thankfully, he'd broken into this place several times before, and a jump between realities or dimensions or whatever hadn't seemed to have changed the security. Good old Lady Luck, watching out for him like always.

"Oh how I wish." The Sahara had nothing on the dryness in Shinichi's voice. "I still can't believe you convinced me to break into my own father's house."

"It's your house too, just...not here." Kaito replied, hauling himself through the window and landing on silent feet. He remained completely still, cautious of something he might have missed in this version of the Kudou manor, but the house was as silent as he was and he let out a breath, peeking his head out the window again. "It's clear!"

Kudou resumed his grumbling under his breath, but stepped forward. Kaito obediently moved back, allowing the detective to climb through as well. Ignoring Kudou for the moment – really, he should know by now that Kaito took "insane" as a _compliment_ – Kaito studied the room they were in. They were on the first floor, in what appeared to be a sitting room, if the fireplace and seating implements scattered around in the tactful "casual-but-proper" style he'd come to expect from the Kudou household and Kudou in general were anything to go by. Meant to promote an air of relaxation and friendliness without disturbing careful protocol and boundaries. Really, the house itself spoke a lot about Kudou and his parents, didn't it?

Although he probably shouldn't be using the furniture of a dimension where Kudou didn't even exist as a way to analyze the teen. Oh well.

Calling upon his mental map of the house, Kaito headed for the door. If he remembered correctly – and he always did – then the elder Kudou male liked to pursue his writing in a private upstairs study, which also contained his computer. And if he was as meticulous about research as his son was, then there would also be plenty of material to help them in this new world.

Kudou's voice had trailed off, and Kaito could practically feel the tension roll off of him in waves, but now really wasn't the time to indulge\ in such luxuries as guilt. If they wanted any chance of going home, then they were going to have to get a little dirty.

As he headed up the stairs, he started to mentally catalog what was different, instincts kicking in. The décor was slightly different; less lace, more browns, and no photos. Everything about the house spoke of a bachelor male that was somewhat eccentric and reclusive, and who had no occasion or reason to take photos. It was kind of surreal, as the version of the manor he knew was practically lined with them. Kudou Yukiko, it seemed, had an indelible urge to live on one side of a camera or the other, and without her touch it seemed that Yuusaku cared little for either. Hum. Interesting...he'd have to ask Kudou if his father had the same reservations at home.

Speaking of Kudou, the other teen stopped abruptly once they came to the top of the stairs, and Kaito had to stop as well when it was obvious Kudou wasn't following him. The detective's gaze was fixed on a door down the hall, and Kaito glanced at it. What was...? Ah.

That was the door to his room, wasn't it? Well, the room that was supposed to be his. Except it wouldn't be here, would it? Who knew what it would be, actually.

Still, now was not the time for morbid curiosity. If Kudou looked now, he might break down or something, and that wouldn't do. They may have a day or two before Kudou Yuusaku returned home, but they shouldn't be here any longer than necessary, and hysterics would probably add more time than necessary.

Sighing inaudibly, Kaito reached out and grabbed one of Kudou's arms, pulling him along as he headed for the room he knew as the study. Security first, freakouts later. Kudou stumbled slightly, but soon regained his feet and was following Kaito, muttering under his breath again, and Kaito felt himself relax minutely. If Kudou could complain, he was okay.

Thankfully the study was as Kaito remembered it, and he made a beeline for the computer, a sleek laptop with a glossy black finish. He flipped it open and pressed the power button, rubbing his hands and grinning. Time for one Kuroba Kaito to exist in this world.

Cracking his knuckles, Kaito set to work.

An hour later, and Kaito dearly wanted to kill something. Or at least be left alone with his chemicals until he could devise a smoke bomb that dyed hair plaid and use it on Hakuba. No matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to bypass the log-in screen. And he was supposed to be a thief! He'd done this hundreds of times before!

He scowled at the screen, too annoyed to bother hiding it behind his usual Poker Face. And he severely doubted Kudou Yuusaku kept chocolate around on the off-chance an international thief with a sweet tooth would stop in. He stared at the keyboard, wondering if he could guess the password by smashing his face into the keys, it would be about as useful as what he had been doing.

There was a rustle from behind him. Kudou had abandoned watching him about fifteen minutes in to start reading a book he'd found lying around, apparently unable to resist the siren lure of literature. Kaito resumed tuning him out, maybe if he tried something else-

Kaito bit back a surprised squawk by pure instinct as hands came from over his shoulder to pick the laptop up. "Give me that." Kudou snapped irritably, sitting down again – when had he dragged his chair closer? – and fingers starting to rapidly move over the keys. Kaito blinked, a little dazed. Man, but Kudou could move silently when he wanted to. Kaito watched him for a few more moments, before what, exactly, the detective was doing broke through his surprise. Apparently it showed on his face, because when Kudou glanced up at him, he flushed and looked back down quickly, grimacing.

"You live next door to a professor who both loves tinkering with technology and is very absent-minded, and see how much you pick up." The detective muttered under his breath, cheeks red. Kaito blinked, before laughing suddenly, amused at the way Kudou went redder at that.

"My, my, Tantei-kun, you should have told me you have such skills. I could have recruited you as an accomplice so much earlier!"

"Shut up." The detective snapped at him, shoving the laptop back at Kaito – fully logged-in and ready to connect to the internet. "Besides, you're the thief, I have no idea how you couldn't get in. You've done it before."

Kaito took the laptop, beginning to search for the government websites. "..I admit, I usually do it with a lot more research and several websites and books open to help me with the prospect. I'm not so used to hacking blind. Databases and websites are far easier, anyways. Heh, a detective being better at hacking and helping a thief crack his own father's computer, you becoming so corrupted, Tantei-kun. What would Holmes say?"

Kudou snorted softly as Kaito found what he was looking for, this time having far more ease with it. Databases really were the easier of the two, honestly. "...He'd probably lecture you for not knowing your skills. _You're _the criminal mastermind, you should be better."

Kaito looked over his shoulder in surprise. "...Is that a joke about Holmes I hear, Tantei-kun? You, sacrilegious to your idol?"

Kudou shot him a very flat look. "Unlike certain...contemporaries of mine, I do admit that doing what's right doesn't always necessarily mean doing what's legal. Holmes was perfectly willing to pull crimes when he needed...in fact, several of his tricks remind me of you."

"Really now?" Kaito mused, starting to fill in a new file with Kudou's information. Admittedly, he'd never read the entirety of work about the fictional detective. "I assume by contemporary, you mean Hakuba. Tantei-san always was...focused."

"Yeah, there was one time he pretended to be ill to sneak into a house, and then had Watson throw a smoke bomb through the window to panic the residents, make them think there was a fire so Holmes could see where they went first. Revealed where the secret documents he was hired to find were, though he didn't get them." Kudou said absently, leaning back in the chair as he watched Kaito work. "And focused is a tactful way of putting it."

"Hmmn. How underhanded of your idol!" Kaito snickered, typing in the kanji for Kudou's name. "And is that actual dislike for Hakuba I hear in your voice? I would think you two would get along swimmingly, being Holmes fans and all."

"I wouldn't say I dislike Hakuba. He just has a tendency to latch onto his first deduction as absolutely correct and refuses to consider alternatives. He would be a much better detective if he forced himself to consider all options before doggedly pursuing one." Kaito could practically hear the grimace in Kudou's voice. "...And he cosplays as Holmes at _cases_, and then wonders why everyone thinks of Holmes fans as crazy."

Kaito didn't stop the surprised and delighted laugh that bubbled up at that. "You know, Tantei-kun, keep showing that kind of common sense and you may even get _me_ to read those books one of these days."

"Heaven forbid I entice you into reading good literature. Can't have you cheating on Lupin, can we?" Kudou deadpanned, then sighed and leaned back. "How is it going?"

Sitting back, Kaito stretched his arms before clicking the "Confirm" button. "Congratulations, you exist. No time to install you into the driver's registry and we don't have the machinery to print a fake license anyways, but you exist."

"I just hope they don't ask for photo ID..." Kudou muttered, leaning back and picking up the book he'd discarded to help Kaito. "Well, tell me when you're done, then. It's getting late in the day, so we should be looking for someplace to stay as well."

"Mmn. If all else fails, tonight can be spent here. The earliest Kudou-san is expected to return is tomorrow evening, after all." Kaito opened another new file, typing in his name as Kudou wasn't looking, and it was easier to use his real name and pretend it was an alias, anyways.

Kaito's mind drifted into autopilot as he filled out the forms, the clacking of his fingers on the keys and the occasional sound of rustling paper as Kudou turned pages lulling him into a sort of comfortable mindset that had him humming under his breath. He admitted, he could get used to living with Kudou while they looked for the jewel. The detective's presence when he wasn't chasing Kaito to within an inch of capture was surprisingly calming. Almost kind of...homey. Kaito snorted softly at himself. Probably just because Kudou kind of reminded him of his mother, he had that same calm unruffled demeanor when he wasn't focused on a case. Heaven knew that the other people in Kaito's life certainly weren't that calming, he certainly never felt relaxed with Hakuba or _Aoko_. He blamed that last one on self-defense. If he looked even a tiny bit relaxed, she had a tendency to show up with scaly horrors.

Really, you'd think she'd know her best friend enough by now to know that a relaxed Kaito was a Kaito much _less_ likely to pull pranks, but he suspected he just freaked her out being still.

Finishing his information, Kaito clicked to save it, frowning when an error popped up. That shouldn't happen. He tried again and got the same response. With a sigh, he got the error number from the pop up and opened a different section of the database, the one that logged the help information for the employees running it. He ran a search and found his error, then frowned. Duplicate info? But his last name was rather unusual and kanji allowed for many different spellings of his first name, there surely shouldn't be any other Kuroba Kaitos with his exact name and birth date in Japan...

He froze. Was it possible that he, unlike Kudou, existed in this world? That would put a damper on things, he hated having to live under a pseudonym for any amount of time. He brought up another search, this time looking for his name.

He got a hit, and opened the file. He glanced over it, it looked exactly as his should be, so he did exist, this was going to be a problem...

His eyes flickered over a certain bit of information, not processing it for a moment, before he realized what he had read and went back to it, staring at it in shock. But...that...

Slowly, feeling rather numb, Kaito clicked for a new browsing tab, then brought up a search for his own name. Earlier in the library, he'd been so in shock over his father being _still alive_ that he hadn't bothered looking up himself like Kudou had. Had put it out of his mind, even, since he didn't want to really think about his father and show any vulnerability to Kudou. But perhaps he should have, as he would have had time to absorb the ten-year-old news reports that his search had brought up.

May 12th, ten years ago, he knew that date. It was the one day he never forgot without fail and dreaded it every year, because it was the date that his world had dropped out from under him. It was the anniversary of his father's murder at the hands of the Organization. But here, in this twisted, strange, _horrible_ reality, it was...

Kaito didn't hear Kudou put his book down, nor the soft calling of his alter ego's name. All he heard was a dull ringing as he stared at a scan of a newspaper, dated that horrible date, proclaiming the tragedy of a stage magic accident during a show that claimed the life of one Kuroba Kaito, aged nine.

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><p><p>

Reviews always appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6: No Little Problems

Author's Notes: Sowing the seeds, woo. More of Kaito and his thoughts will be detailed in the next chapter. I am so tired, bleh.

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><p><p>

**Chapter Six**

No Little Problems

As the minutes passed and Kid didn't answer, Shinichi felt himself getting more worried. This was worse than the library...what had he seen?

He did his best to not look at the screen, although curiosity was tugging at him strongly. It would, after all, be such a simple matter to glance at the screen and discover what had sent the thief into what seemed like the first stage of a breakdown, but Shinichi forcebly relocated his gaze to Kid whenever his gaze started drifting to the laptop. He hadn't compromised Kid's identity, and he wouldn't do it now when the thief was so...vunerable.

He was rather proud of himself for it. And people said he couldn't control his curiosity, hah!

Still, Kid's continued silence was far more worrying, and to stop the temptation, the best way was to get the thief back into a normal frame of mind. He hadn't responded to sound, so that meant more drastic measures.

Shinichi hesitated for a moment, before reaching out to lightly touch Kid's shoulder, calling his name again in a soft voice that he hoped was non-threatening. The _last_ thing he needed was for Kid to freak out at being touched by a detective and gas him on instinct.

He did get a startled reaction, although thankfully it wasn't pink smoke to the face. Kid literally jerked, enough to see, and he inhaled sharply, as if he'd forgotten to breath in the past few minutes. His head snapped around and he just stared at Shinichi for the longest moment. Shinichi really didn't have to fake the worry on his face, because this was really just beyond his scope. How did one deal with a international phantom thief who seemed to be having a crisis?

Kid, however, took that out of hands as he took another shuddering breath, then reached out, and before Shinichi could really process what was going on, he found himself in the thief's lap, being clung to like a lifeline, which, for all Shinichi knew, he _was_. Kid buried his face in Shinichi's shoulder, and then went completely still and silent again, aside from the shaking that was running through his entire body.

At a loss, Shinichi really could only gently rub the thief's back and murmuring comforting nonsense, his mind reeling from this new upset in the normal balance of things. The baseball cap was knocked askew and had fallen to the floor when Kid attempted to absorb his face into Shinichi's shoulder, taking the sunglasses with it as at some point during his hour of failed hacking they'd found themselves moved up and perched on the brim of the hat. His other hand came up instinctively to run his fingers through the thief's surprisingly soft hair, carding through the wild strands – was it always so messy, or was that just the hats he wore? – as he continued his vague murmurs. What really worried him was that he thought his could feel his shoulder getting damp through his school uniform, was Kid crying? He wasn't making a sound still, though, just the shaking.

This was getting extremely worrying, and Shinichi had no clue how to handle this. He was unsure how long exactly they stayed like that, as it seemed like forever but the clock cheerfully informed him it was only about five minutes, but but Shinichi continued his ministrations as his mind thought wildly on how to bring the thief out of this. Humor? Threats? What? So absorbed in his thoughts, he almost missed when the tension slowly drained out of Kid, and it took him a moment to realize that the shuddering had stopped.

Shinichi stopped his hands, but didn't move them quite yet in case Kid was going to go through the whole cycle again. He turned his head slightly to look at the mop of wild dark hair against his shoulder, hesitating for a moment, before speaking softly. Again, gas to the face was a bad idea. "...Kid?"

He actually got a reaction this time, a rough, raspy laugh that sounded tired. "...You sound confused, Tantei-kun. Cuddling thieves not in the job description?"

Shinichi felt himself relax as well – when had he gotten so tense? – at Kid's words. If he was even attempting at his normal flippant self, he'd probably be okay. The tone was worrying, but the words were comforting. He snorted softly. "Can't say I've had the occasion to before, no. Nor sit in one's lap."

That brought another chuckle, sounding a bit more alive this time, and Shinichi found himself smiling. Even if Kid was a thief, he was, as best Shinichi could judge, a fundamentally good person. He did, after all, have quite the record of public service in helping catch other criminals and the like. And people in distress always worried Shinichi. He never knew quite what to do to handle it. He could solve crimes, but people's emotions were a whole different mystery, one that he'd always fumbled.

"Well, I can't say I'm usually in the habit of snuggling detectives, so I'd say we're even." Kid suddenly hesitated, as if he was unsure of what to say next. Just a day ago Shinichi would have never thought that words would ever fail the quicksilver thief, but he supposed other dimensions made you learn all sorts of strange things. Finally, Kid resumed talking. "...I've been thinking, Tantei-kun..."

Shinichi really couldn't help the sarcastic quip. "Did it hurt?"

Kid laughed softly, and Shinichi felt rather pleased with himself at the genuine sound. "Aren't you a comedian? Anyways, I was thinking that we'd best stay here for the night, unless you want to use our other-worldly money for a hotel. It's too late to try to secure anything more permanent."

Shinichi glanced towards the window, rather surprised at the complete darkness outside. He'd barely noticed it getting darker outside. "...Probably. But we'll have to leave first thing. I don't want to run into anyone, and we'll need time anyways to clean up after ourselves. As it is, Dad...Kudou Yuusaku...he'll probably know someone was in the house, just not who." Right, this universe's Kudou Yuusaku wasn't his father, and Shinichi had to start training himself to not think he was. He knew how scarily intelligent and observant the man could be, and unless he got rid of the instinctive assumption that his father was a safe person, he'd undoubtedly screw up badly if they met. And that was just something they didn't need.

"Probably, but you know who I am. There won't be a hair of evidence, literally." Kid chuckled to himself in what seemed like an old joke, before straightening and pulling away from Shinichi's shoulder. Shinichi looked at him automatically and for one moment wildly wondered when Kid had stuck a mirror on his face, except his hair was never that messy even on bad days and the eyes were definitely a different shade of blue, a strange tint that almost seemed to shimmer purple in the direct light. Huh, so the strange indigo shade of his eyes under the shadows of his top hat was due to that?

Then Shinichi realized what he was looking at, and immediately snapped his gaze away, back to looking at the window. What was he _doing_! He'd promise himself he wouldn't do anything to compromise Kid's identity!

There was a soft chuckle, and suddenly warm fingers were on his chin, directing his gaze back to Kid's face, which now looked distinctly amused. "That was something else I was thinking about, Tantei-kun. We're going to be living together for as long as it takes to find the Night Sky again and hopefully go home. While I could certainly pull off being in disguise for that long, it would honestly be a little irritating. Besides, you already do know that I'm similar enough to you to pass without a mask, so how much this really reveals is debatable."

"You'd be surprised." Shinichi muttered, then sighed when Kid raised an eyebrow at him, obviously asking him to expand. "...I may have done some researching when I first learned that little fact. Did you know there are at least two other people similar enough to do the same thing? I couldn't pin you down due to the fact that my only criteria was 'resembles me' and all I had was pictures, but your eye color is going to be a dead giveaway if I ever look again. I have no idea why you don't disguise it with contacts most of the time, it's far too unusual." Shinichi didn't bother to mention that he could probably pin Kid down now if he thought about it, it would be easy enough to recall the photos and their names. He just didn't really want to do it. Maybe if Kid pissed him off, though.

Kid merely made an amused hum – probably at the fact that there were at least two other easy disguises out there for him to take advantage of – before shrugging. "...Perhaps. But you won't sue it, will you?"

Shinichi grimaced slightly as Kid echoed his earlier thoughts. Damn the thief for being overly perceptive. "...No. No I wouldn't."

Kid, thankfully, didn't press for the reasons, as Shinichi was still not entirely sure of them himself. There were the obvious ones – evidence gathered in alternate dimensions might as well have been evidence gathered while on hallucinogenic drugs, it'd be about the same in the police's eyes anyways – and the less obvious ones that were more just unformed feelings and ideas. They mostly revolved around the fact that if he caught Kid, he'd lose the one true puzzle in his life that was both real and _safe_. Kid didn't have a foregone conclusion like books and puzzle games, but his puzzles also didn't result in blood and death like the only other real-life practice Shinichi got. Kid was _safe_ to chase, safe to match wits with, because the worst thing that ever happened was some property damage and wounded egos. There wasn't any shadows at heists.

Damn, he really was addicted to puzzles, wasn't he?

Shaking himself out of that bit of self-depriciation, Shinichi sighed as he shifted into a more comfortable position, then froze when something else crashed over him that he'd totally forgotten.

He was still in Kid's lap.

He'd completely forgotten their positions in his worry over the thief, and, indeed, still had their arms loosely wrapped around each other – Kid's hands were linked together and resting lightly on the base of his spine, and his own were looped loosely around the thief's shoulders, having moved there after Kid sat up straight.

Shinichi sat, frozen, as his mind raced. He was in. Kid's. _LAP_. How had he forgotten this!

He couldn't help the startled squeak when Kid's voice sounded again – a faintly concerned "Tantei-kun?", apparently Kid had picked up on his sudden panic, but he couldn't be bothered with that right now – and he realized, with growing horror, that they were so close he could feel the thief _talking_, a humming vibration against his chest despite the naturally light and airy quality to his voice.

He then moved so fast he was quite certain he teleported, because he certainly didn't remember his panicked scrabble out of the thief's arms and trying to become one with the armchair he'd originally been sitting in. Grabbing the book he'd abandoned when he got worried about Kid, he buried his face in it, feeling rather like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand.

"...You...you should probably finish what you were doing." Shinichi managed, keeping his eyes firmly on the book and not on Kid, who was now sporting an extremely bemused expression.

"...Right." Kid's tone clearly indicated that he knew something was wrong and intended to dig it out at the earliest possible time. Really, couldn't the thief be embarrassed about anything? He was the one that had grabbed Shinichi and used him as an over-sized teddy bear!

There was a few keystrokes, then several mouse clicks, and Kid snapped the laptop shut. "Anyways, we should look to getting settled in for the night if we want to get up early enough to erase all of our tracks. I'm going to go raid the kitchen, because I don't know about you, Tantei-kun, but we haven't eaten all day and I'm starving."

With that, Kid stood up in a fluid motion and headed for the kitchen, soft footsteps almost instantly disappearing from Shinichi's hearing. With a small whimper, Shinichi covered his head and tried to get his embarrassment under control.

Why hadn't he noticed sooner! He wouldn't have been nearly so mortified if he'd pulled away as soon as the thief stopped needing the physical comfort, but he _hadn't _noticed. Why? Shinichi was normally horribly touchy about physical contact. The only people who even bothered hugging him were his mother and Ran. His mother brought her own horror stories with that – he remembered a week he'd spent running in terror from her, rather firmly convinced she was trying to smother him and claim insurance or something, some idea from a movie he'd watched – and Ran hugging him had been uncomfortable enough when he was first Conan. It had taken him two _years_ to get over that, and even now he was tense when she gave him those friendly hugs. Just a friendly touch on his arm was enough to make him hyper-aware of being touched.

So why had he completely forgotten he was in such close contact with Kid? It made no sense. Sure, he'd been picked up and carried as Conan by the thief and hadn't really cared, but he'd had more important things on his mind at the time, namely murderers, usually. There was no reason for him to forget that he was literally sitting in the thief's lap, and especially no reason to have been comfortable there until he'd realized exactly where he was.

So why had he?

Groaning, Shinichi pulled his mind out of those circles and stood up. He could think on it later, really, and Kid mentioning food had reminded Shinichi of his stomach's existence and he was starving as well.

Determinedly shoving the gibbering embarrassment back into the corner of his mind labeled "Deal With It Later" that had been growing exponentially since this whole mess started, Shinichi headed out of the study and towards the kitchen as well.

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><p><p>

Reviews always appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7: Small Comforts

Author's Notes: Special double today! Just in a writing mood. I felt a little humor was needed, as well, after the last two chapters or so, so...heheheheheheh pantry.

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><p><p>

**Chapter Seven**

Small Comforts

As Kaito walked out of the study towards the Kudou mansion's kitchen, his feet slowed as he brought himself to consider what he had learned.

He had...died. In the magic show that had claimed his father's life in his own version of reality.

Kaito frowned slightly, stopping in the door frame to the kitchen. Now that the initial shock had passed, he really couldn't understand _why_. There was no way his father would have let him preform any trick involving explosives or fire at that age, at least not without triple-checking it and running through it himself a few times, so the idea of it being a real accident was laughable. It had to have been another set-up, another murder, like his father's.

But why? Was it truly aimed at his father and, by unlucky happenstance, Kaito had been allowed to preform it instead? Or had Kaito himself been the real target? For what reason? He'd only been _nine_! That was no threat to anybody...

Kaito felt himself pale as a thought hit him, and he had to suck in a sharp breath and grip the door frame to steady himself.

No, Kaito wasn't a threat to anybody, but _Toichi _had been. To Snake and all of his bastard kind. The accident had been set up to eliminate him, but if he had been deemed still useful...there was always the chance they had wanted to bully Toichi back into their control. Maybe he just hadn't split off fully yet, or they wanted him back, or maybe the jewel search just went exceedingly different in this world, who knew.

But if they wanted to scare his father into not betraying him...it would only take a little nudge, wouldn't it? Someone taking aside Kaito at that age, too eager to mimic his father and do everything he did, and just casually mentioning that maybe he could persuade his father to let him star in the next part...

And Kaito, little young, innocent Kaito, would skip merrily up to Toichi, pester him endlessly until he agreed to let Kaito stand in for him in the next trick, and...

Kaito let out his breath, realizing he'd been unconsciously holding it again. Bad habit. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to remain calm and think about it. He doubted Kudou wanted to be used as a comforter a second time tonight.

The real question was what effect it had had on his father. Obviously Kid was still around, but was he dodging the Organization? Or had Kaito's death done what they wanted and pulled Toichi back?

The thought that his father would ever return to working for those bastards was a cold one. But it was a possibility. Who knew how badly his death had affected his father? Kaito knew that Toichi dying had changed his entire world, probably causing him to become more focused and obsessive than he should. Everything from that moment had turned into a goal of living up to and perhaps surpassing the man, as if by succeeding he could make him proud in the afterlife. As if, by becoming his shadow, he was still alive, a little. And Toichi would have been hurt by this, undoubtedly...perhaps even enough to heed that insidious warning? _'We took one precious thing, work for us or we'll keep chipping away...'_

Kaito slowly shook his head, sorting through his thoughts and shuffling them. No, honestly, he couldn't afford to think about this right now. He was hungry, a little cold, and all of this speculation would make no difference here. It would have to wait until their search actually started.

Gods...the search. There was no way his father wouldn't look into another jewel thief on his territory, especially if Kaito dared to pull a traditional heist. Hell, would he even be able to escape the man? His mother often praised him that he'd be better than his father one day, but how much of that was motherly pride? Could he really pull off a heist and escape the original Kid at the same time? If he failed, after all, he'd probably end up in jail. That's what happened to most of Kaito's imitators, after all. But stealing the jewel by stealth just left a bad taste in his mouth. He wasn't doing this for crime or money – in fact, it was to _stop_ crime, mostly. Could he really go against his morals and the standards of his father just to get home...?

Kaito dearly wished to be home right now.

But he wasn't, and he was going to have to face that. Sighing softly, Kaito strode towards the pantry. Right, no more thinking. For all he knew, maybe some idiot had accidentally messed with Toichi's set up when the man wasn't looking and Kaito's death really had been a tragic accident. Maybe Snake didn't exist at all here. Maybe, maybe, so many maybes. Food was not a maybe, so Kaito decided to focus on that.

He ignored the fridge – perishables would be noticed as missing far more quickly – and opened the pantry, going over every shelf and cataloging the contents. It was pretty depressingly bare. Kudou stocked it better than this, and that was kind of sad. What teenager had a better-stocked pantry than his parents, or at least one of them? Maybe it was the Mouri girl's doing, though.

A box of bran cereal, blegh. Coffee, coffee, more coffee, obvious which parent Kudou had gotten that quirk from. Crackers, maybe. Cans of tun–

"_GyyaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!_"

Kaito was fiercely going to deny that sounded even remotely feminine for years. He'd moved without even consciously meaning to at the sight of the cartoon label, depicting those horrible, scaly _terrors_. He'd somehow found himself on top of the cabinets across the kitchen. Well, it was far away from the cans, and that's what mattered. He clung to a decorative pot, shaking. Why did normal people eat these kinds of things! If it had just been nice, normal text, he could have just quickly looked past without the screaming and the embarrassing flight to the highest place he could find, away from sea level. But no, stupid advertising, always gotta have _pictures_...

There was several muffled thumps, then footsteps, and Kudou burst into the kitchen, wielding a vase like it was a lethal weapon. "Where's the murder!"

There was a long moment of awkward silence as Kaito just stared at the suddenly-appeared detective – did he really think there would be a murder? How many did the guy really run into for him to think that? – and Kudou blinked owlishly as, apparently, the gruesome crime scene he expected failed to resolve in front of his eyes and all he saw was an open pantry and Kaito squeezed into the tiny space between the ceiling and the upper cabinets.

The silence continued for a long moment – Kaito couldn't bring himself to break it until he could loosen his death-grip on the ceramic jar – until Kudou finally just looked at Kaito, face a perfect picture of bafflement.

"...Kid? What happened?"

Kaito licked his lips, closing his eyes for a moment to assemble what was left of his Poker Face after all the day's revelations and the close encounter with the slimy ones. "...Just...was startled. By a noise. Heh. That's all."

Managing to pry himself from his jar of comfort, Kaito slid off the cabinets, trying to brush off the dust that had collected on his clothes. The elder Kudou really should look into a maid. Forcing a grin onto his face, Kaito neatly stepped up to the detective, and if he still wasn't gibbering about _them_ in the back of his mind he would have laughed when Kudou actually looked nervous and about to step back.

"Anyways, Kudou, this is, in a sense, your house, and I've been banned from anything resembling cookware since I was ten. Care to find us something edible?" Kaito chirped even as he put the detective between himself and the pantry. No way in _hell_ was he opening it again.

Kudou gave him the oddest look, as if he couldn't quite decide if he should be calling a hospital or a mental ward, and it kind of made Kaito want to break out into hysterical giggles. No, no hysterics! And here he was thinking he'd have to be stopping _Kudou_ from breaking down. Why had it been the scaly things!

"...Right." Kudou obviously didn't believe a word, but apparently deemed it too late or something to deal with. "If you really are such a disaster in the kitchen, go sit at the table. I don't need food exploding."

Nodding perhaps too enthusiastically, Kaito slid back past the grumbling detective, giving the pantry a wide berth and sliding into a chair at the little kitchenette table. He kept his back to the pantry door and its evil contents, contenting himself with watching Kudou pick through it instead out of the corner of his eyes. After all, he'd have to stop the detective if he went for _those_.

However the detective just pulled out a packet of some instant mix – it looked to be a soup of some sorts – and the crackers Kaito had noticed earlier. Kaito slouched in relief when the detective shut the door, taking the food to the stove.

Letting the tension of the day just drain away, Kaito propped his head on his hand and just watched as Kudou prepared the little soup package. The fear had, quite frankly, driven out all the other feelings, and now that it was gone too, Kaito kept them away and just basked in the relative domesticity of the scene. It allowed him to relax a bit, finally unknotting his muscles and letting lethargy creep in instead of the energetic half-adrenaline rush he'd been using to bust through the day and all the strange things happening. Strange it had only been a day, it felt longer.

He felt his eyelids drooping a bit, and shook himself slightly. He could fall asleep after he'd eaten. He'd be up for another two hours probably if he let himself put his head down for even a few minutes of rest. He'd always been like that. Once up, he was up until he was completely worn out again.

The minutes ticked past, and Kaito fell into a lazy contemplation, still idly watching Kudou as he let his thoughts drift through less-important things about their situation. Tomorrow they'd have to secure some form of shelter and money. A part-time job that needed people immediately and wouldn't be too picky was probably the best bet, maybe helping out a local grocery or convenience store. The lodging was going to be harder, as unless they could delay paying immediately, it would have to be using what money they already had until they did get paid with this world's money. There was a chance of being accused of counterfeiting with money that either didn't exist here or was a duplicate, after all, and that wasn't even considering that Kaito wasn't sure they had the cash to do it. He didn't know about Kudou, but Kaito was a fairly normal highschooler with a fairly normal budget – there was a reason so much of his Kid stuff was homemade, not only was it less incriminating, it was _cheaper _– and he knew he certainly couldn't afford an apartment or hotel for any length of time beyond maybe a day or two. Kudou seemed to be well off, but how much he actually carried in cash versus a debit card or such was debatable.

Kaito was brought out of his thoughtful daze by a clack. He blinked a little groggily, looking down. Oh, the soup was down. Kudou dropped the box of crackers unceremoniously in the middle of the table and sat in the next chair, leaning over and starting to wolf down his own bowl of soup.

It was some cheap potato thing, but it couldn't have tasted better to Kaito at the moment. He was used to eating regularly, after all, especially with a mother who threatened to not buy sweets for a month if he dared skip meals. And now, if he guessed at the fact that they'd woken up soon after they'd arrived, then it had been about eight hours since he'd eaten anything – a sandwich, in fact, as his pre-heist meals were always light so he wouldn't be distracted by hunger but wouldn't be dulled by fullness, either. And, of course, there was always the option that the times between worlds were the same, and he and Kudou had somehow slept through and been unnoticed since the time of his heist at night until when they'd woken up this morning, which was almost an entire twenty-four hours.

The soup was gone entirely too quickly, and Kaito wished he'd maybe slowed down a little to enjoy it more, but there was little to do except munch on crackers as Kudou finished off his own bowl. Kaito grinned slightly to himself – the detective had actually added the crackers to his soup, broken into neat little chunks. He wondered if the detective really ate like that or if it was a habit left over from Conan and being fed kiddy meals. Well, he'd probably be embarrassed if Kaito asked, so he just filed it away for future study.

When Kudou finished, dinner was over, and Kaito gladly washed the dishes as Kudou put away the crackers and utensils that didn't need washing. Like _hell _he was opening the pantry again.

Folding the hand towel neatly over the stove handle where he'd found it, Kaito turned towards Kudou, who was wiping the stove clean of fingerprints. Hmm, should have done that with everything they were done using earlier, like the laptop. Oh well, more work I the morning. "So, Tantei-kun, where are we sleeping?"

Kudou glanced up at Kaito, before looking back down at his work. "I was thinking the couches in the den. Easier to clean off, leather and all."

"Hmmn." Kaito hummed in agreement. "Blankets?"

"...Probably. No use in freezing, after all." Kudou said, flipping his own towel over the refrigerator door handle. "Come help me get them down."

Kaito obediently followed the detective to the hall closet where, thankfully, it seemed spare blankets were still kept. Pulling out two each, they headed into the den and arranged themselves on the couches. As Kaito flopped down onto his makeshift bed, Kudou left for a short while. Kaito listened to the detective's footsteps as he went around the house, apparently locking up and shutting off what lights they had turned on – mostly desk lamps to minimize being spotted.

It was a little strange to be like this, with Kudou, and stranger still to realize he'd probably have to get used to all these sorts of habits and routines. After all, they could theoretically go their separate ways, but it was far more sensible to stay together and pit what resources they had. There was also much less chance of mistakes in a pair than alone.

Still, of all people, Kaito had to again be thankful it was Kudou and not anyone else he might have picked up. Imagine eating soup and crackers with Nakamori! Or clinging to Hakuba during his little breakdown upstairs.

Kaito wrinkled his nose. Ugh, Hakuba would never let him live it down, either in trying to figure out what was wrong or being smugly superior over it. Kudou, thankfully, was neither. He'd obviously been worried, but he hadn't pressed, just offered that quiet comfort. It had been rather surprising, but welcome, and now, just watching as the detective came back downstairs to turn off the kitchen light and then came to sit on his own couch, Kaito really did feel that maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Surely Kaitou Kid and his most brilliant critic could pull this off together, and hey, who knew, maybe he'd even get a friend out of the deal. Kaito could definitely say by now that he certainly wouldn't mind.

Wishing the detective good night and getting a mumbled response, Kaito laughed quietly to himself as he wrapped himself up in one of the blankets and closed his eyes, sleep coming blessedly fast.

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Reviews always appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8: Filling The Vacuum

Author Notes: The ending came to me rather abruptly as I was thinking earlier today and realized that, long ago, I'd thought of an alternate universe similar to this which Shinichi had died in, and the real Shinichi travels to with Kid. I realized I really liked the main plot point I'd thought up for it, and hence, the ending of this, lol. It's as weird a twist as chapter five's ending, if not weirder. Heh heh. I like it.

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><p><p>

**Chapter Eight**

Filling The Vacuum

When Shinichi drifted out of sleep, his first thought was to ignore whatever had woken him up and just go back to sleep. His body was telling him that it was an unholy hour and he'd be better for it.

As what woke him filtered his mind, Shinichi groggily decided that he should probably get up soon instead of sleeping. The smell of coffee and the sound of humming meant someone was up, and that someone was usually Ran or, when she was in the country, his mother, although it was rare for her to wake up so early. He'd gotten his love of sleep from her, after all. Both options meant he should probably wake up before they did it for him.

Squinting open his eyes, Shinichi stared at the fireplace. Had he fallen asleep in the living again...? But what the other pile of blankets – oh.

As yesterday came back in a rush, Shinichi groaned and considered just covering his head with the blanket and going back to sleep. Figured Kid would be an early riser. And now that he thought about it, that humming was definitely male. He hated mornings. Not because he had to wake up early, because he didn't mind that as much, but more for how long it took for his brain to get running again. The only things that jump-started it were coffee or a case.

There was a bit of clattering from the kitchen – the same direction as the humming, Kid was obviously making the coffee that was calling Shinichi further into wakefulness. He'd get up for coffee.

Groaning slightly again, Shinichi freed himself from the tangle of blankets and walked towards the kitchen. Sure enough, there was Kid, pouring coffee into a mug, an already-filled one to the side. The thief looked disgustingly awake and put together, aside from his hair, for – Shinichi glanced at the stove clock – five in the morning.

Ugh. Morning people.

He hadn't made much noise, but Kid took the filled mug with his free hand, holding it out to Shinichi, not looking away from his own mug. "Here you go. Fresh and hot."

Well, morning people had their uses too. Like having coffee ready for him when he woke up. Shinichi took the mug, mumbling something that was intelligible to even his own ears but, at least, sounded sincerely thankful. Kid merely hummed a response, and Shinichi shuffled to the table, sitting down and taking a sip of the hot beverage. Not as strong as he usually made it, but the bitter bite was welcoming. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed it for a few moments.

There was a soft clanking, then footsteps, and Shinichi opened his eyes as Kid sat across from him with his own mug of – was that even coffee anymore? It, quite frankly, looked more like milk with a spoonful of coffee rather than the other way around. Shinichi had a sneaking suspicion about how Kid seemed to get most of his energy, now.

Kid stirred his coffee a bit more before taking the spoon out and sipping at it. "So, Tantei-kun, here are my tentative thoughts for our game plan today, as it were. I figure that the main point is getting a job. There are many more ways of securing somewhere comfortable to stay than legal money, so the job is most important. Since we are already in your neighborhood, so to speak, it might be best to stay here. No one is going to know you, after all, and we can stick close to this house as a point of reference."

Shinichi nodded slowly when Kid paused, obviously seeking input. In Shinichi's opinion, the thief was doing a great job on his own and didn't really need Shinichi's opinion, especially not before at least two cups of coffee. Kid hesitated a moment longer, before continuing.

"In that vein, today I recommend just cruising down the main streets of Beika today after we clean the house and see what we find. I also recommend procuring new clothes, I unfortunately only had this outfit on me at the time, as I was not expecting to need to disguise myself after the heist was over. So, clean, job, clothes, sound like a plan?"

Shinichi just nodded again, taking a long drag of his coffee. He thought he heard Kid snort softly at him, but it was easily ignored in favor of caffeine. He'd be more usual after his brain had booted, damn it.

Breakfast turned out to be toast as, apparently, Kid once again refused to go anywhere the pantry. He, thankfully, left Shinichi to his coffee and toast in piece after stuffing down his own, heading off upstairs to start cleaning.

After the coffee started waking, Shinichi allowed himself a little more thought on Kid's words. He grimaced down at his clothes. Right, definitely needed that taken care of. He would shower in a bit – he was fairly sure Kid already had, reviewing his hazy memories revealed the thief's hair as a little damp when Shinichi went into the kitchen – but no amount of showering would clean his clothes. At least they still looked mildly presentable for today, although he was going to have to ditch the tie and jacket probably. It was too obviously a school uniform even if Teitan High didn't exist here, and the last thing he needed was to be arrested for playing hooky. Thankfully the shirt wasn't embroidered with the school crest like the jacket was, a small relief.

After washing his own dishes, he found Kid in the study studiously wiping down for fingerprints, and he joined the thief as they went over every inch of the house they had touched, from windowsills to doorknobs. After everything had been cleaned up, washed, vacuumed, and gone over, they found themselves in the same sitting room they had snuck in yesterday. Kid had donned his gloves sometimes during the process of cleaning, and opened the window, before turning and regarding Shinichi with a critical eye.

Shinichi frowned at the thief even as he was shrugging out of his school jacket. "I have gloves, if that's what you're wondering."

The thief blinked – it was still decidedly _odd _to see his face, it almost seemed that half of Kid's legendary mask was due to the shadows and monocle – before laughing. "No, that's not what I was thinking about, although I was about to tell you about it. No, it's about your clothes. I suppose you're taking the jacket and tie off to not be recognized as a student?"

"That's right." Shinichi said, a little warily as he folded the jacket over his arm and tugged his tie loose. Even when they were working together, like now, he never quite knew what Kid would be planning next, nor why he was suddenly interested in Shinichi's clothes.

"Hmmn..." The thief hummed, and before Shinichi could really process what he was doing he stepped forward and reached around Shinichi, hands so quick Shinichi really couldn't catch what he was doing. It took him a few seconds to realize that not only had his jacket and tie disappeared gods knew where, but he was wearing a new jacket – name _Kid's_ suit jacket, which the thief was industriously working at one of the shoulder seams with a needle and thread in one hand and a tiny pair of scissors in the other. Was he altering his own outfit?

"What are you doing?" Shinichi couldn't help the almost-squawk, slightly mortified. He was wearing _Kid's jacket_, and the thief was _altering it_. What was he thinking?

"Relax, I can re-sew it properly later." Kid replied, and continued when Shinichi opened his mouth to protest that _that wasn't the problem. _ "And I'm just making the fit a little more casual. It's too cold for you to be in just a dress shirt without attracting attention, and this will give you a more casual business air."

Shinichi scowled at the top of the thief's head, bent over his shoulder, before looking down at himself. It was true that with the shoulders adjusted a bit, it would look like a simple white blazer. It shifted and laid flatter against his shoulders as Kid finished one shoulder and moved to the other. He was amazingly fast with the adjustments, obviously Kid didn't outsource for his disguise needs. A few moments later and the thief stepped back, grinning. "There you go. Now just don't act guilty and everyone will assume you're a college student or a young businessman out for the day."

Shinichi kept staring down at himself with a frown, feeling a little uncomfortable – he was wearing Kid's suit jacket, it was almost sacrilegious – but sighed as he had to admit that it was better than the thin dress shirt in this season. The color of his pants couldn't be helped, but at least it all matched. He glanced up at Kid, studying him for a moment with a critical eye – the thief's clothes were casual and really said nothing about him aside from a sense of style that leaned more towards comfort and ease of movement than fashion, but nonetheless looked stylish in a rogue kind of way. Shinichi wondered for a moment if it were another disguise or Kid's personal style sense, before shaking his head of the idle thoughts. Neither of them were obviously high school students right now, and that was what mattered.

Digging in his pants pocket for the pair of latex gloves he kept on himself at all times in case of crime scenes, Shinichi sighed and snapped them on as Kid's grin widened. "Let's get this disaster moving."

They exited the house after that, Kid working some trick to re-lock the window from the outside, and they were soon on their way, no one noticing them in the dawn as they walked down Beika Street, towards the more metropolitan areas.

As they walked, the city slowly came to life, as more and more people awoke and the day started. Students started appearing, and Shinichi kept his face carefully neutral at the blue blazer outfit some sported. Good thing he had changed, or he would have been recognized immediately as a student, as Teitan High still existed and had the same uniform. Businessmen and other commuters bustled by on their way to the train station, and otherwise everything looked like a perfectly normal weekday. In fact, Shinichi had to restrain a flinch every time a new gaggle of students appeared, still half-convinced they would recognize him and he'd be busted. But everyone passed Kid and him by without a second glance, and after a bit Shinichi relaxed.

Kid kept up a casual stream of chatter that Shinichi replied to occasionally. The thief was just one of those people who didn't strictly need other people's input on holding a conversation. Still, he often threw out engaging hooks to Shinichi, whether it was a mention of Holmes or just an interesting observation or two. In fact, they spent a few blocks engaged in a small challenge of who could guess the most about a person's lifestyle from a quick observation. They were about even in it, despite coming from different angles to do so. The first things Kid tended to point out were about personality and habits, while Shinichi tended to gravitate more towards clothes and belongings instead. It was, admittedly, fun, and Shinichi almost found himself forgetting their original objective until Kid's attention swiveled across the street and they set about inquiring for jobs.

It was a long process, and Shinichi had never been more thankful that after a few demonstrations to Inspector Megure, the police had only been too happy to accept his help and promote his name. As it was, no matter which way Shinichi went, as a police detective or a private investigator, he was guaranteed business. He'd never had had to worry about actually being evaluated before, as everyone in his field already knew his record.

As it was, they got nothing more than a few vague "we'll call you" answers – which was worrying, as when Shinichi had flipped open his cell earlier he'd found that, of course, they had no service, being quite literally out of this world – and the day dragged into the afternoon with nothing to show for themselves.

At about four or so, Kid finally snapped, it seemed, as he grabbed Shinichi's arm and started dragging him somewhere. No amount of protesting changed his trajectory, so Shinichi sighed and allowed himself to be dragged.

At least, until he realized where they were headed.

Shinichi dug in his heels abruptly, and Kid was forced to stop. The thief gave him an aggrieved look over his shoulder. "What, Tantei-kun?"

Shinichi just glared at the thief. "If you're thinking of making me apply as some underling to that old man, you can find your own damn gem."

Kid blinked, the look of confusion so honest that Shinichi found himself confused as well. "...What? That's where you're dragging me, isn't it? There's no other reason to come here."

Kid stared for another minute, before breaking out into snickers. "No, no, Tantei-kun. Although I find it funny that's the first thing you think of. No, I'm just starving, and this was the closest place based on my memory of your neighborhood."

With that, Kid jerked his thumb to the building in front of them, one Shinichi knew like the back of his hand. The thief wasn't pointing to the second floor, but instead, to the little cafe that had almost been under the Mouri Detective Agency. Poirot.

Shinichi slumped, feeling embarrassed. Glaring at the still-laughing thief, Shinichi shrugged off the hand on his arm. "...You could have said something, stupid thief, and I wouldn't have jumped to weird conclusions."

Kid just waved a hand at him, grinning. "But it's funnier this way! Besides, you wouldn't have to worry about that anyways. It seems dear old Mouri-san isn't in business, at least not here anyways."

Shinichi jerked at that, and glanced up at the second floor at the words on the windows. He'd seen them so often, he'd dismissed them under the impression that they said what they always did. But no, instead of proclaiming the existence of Mouri Kogorou's business, they merely announced the residence of some printing shop.

Shinichi just stared. Did that mean the Mouris didn't live here...? Did that mean that Kogorou didn't exist...? That _Ran_ was...?

A hand waved I front of his face, and Shinichi refocused on Kid, who just gave him a smile. "Anyways, I'm hungry, you're probably hungry, let's eat!" With that, the thief grabbed his arm again and proceeded to lead Shinichi into the little cafe that hadn't changed even as Shinichi had to, once again, reorder his views of this world.

Poirot was so achingly _familiar_ compared to everything up to now – even his own house had been different enough, in the décor inside, that he'd always been reminded that he was someplace _else_ – that Shinichi had to swallow and slowly collect himself before he could bring himself to look at the pretty young waitress, the same one who'd always been there when he was Conan. Azusa, her name was? He managed, somehow, and managed to give his order for coffee – and a sandwich at Kid's insistence – without anyone the wiser, except maybe Kid.

As the waitress left, Kid just propped his chin on his hand and looked at Shinichi. "...Should I have picked somewhere different?"

The question was surprisingly tactful for the thief. Shinichi just shook his hand. "...No. Just another thing to get used to, after all."

Kid gave him such an understanding look that Shinichi couldn't help smiling back at him a little. The thief really did have too much charisma for his own good. Shinichi was about to steer the conversation somewhere different, like about what they should be doing for the night, when the second wave hit the little boat of calm he'd managed to build today.

"Hello, Azusa-chan! Can I have my usual table?"

That voice was one Shinichi would always recognize, one he'd heard for almost as long as he could remember. The voice of his childhood friend, big sister, and one-time love interest all in one. His gaze snapped to the entrance without thinking to the entrance, where...

Where _Ran_ stood.

For a surreal moment, he'd almost looked right over her, because of her hair. Instead of the long silky locks she had sported since fourth grade, her hair was short, cut neatly to a bob a little under her chin in a style he hadn't seen on her since kindergarten. It almost made her look like _Haibara_ for a moment, but her hair still had the same wavy kinks he was used to, the same dark color, and her face was as friendly and open as always, wide blue-gray eyes kind and soft.

The friendly smile on her face made Shinichi abruptly feel homesick. He _missed_ her, and he'd only been gone at most two days. Perhaps because while he had been away from her for far longer, this was the first time he could remember when he never knew if he'd see her again. He missed his best friend.

She was dressed in the Teitan High uniform, obviously just come from school and karate practice, book bag and karate uniform hanging from one hand. The other hand held a bundle of manilla folders and papers to her chest, and Shinichi was momentarily distracted by the oddity. He'd only seen her carry things like that for her father or mother, but if she didn't live here, why was she carrying them? Unless her last name had changed too, and Mouri Kogorou was no longer a detective but a book printer. The thought of the lazy letch having anything to do with fine literature made Shinichi want to laugh, perhaps a bit hysterically. Maybe it was a porn publisher, and Shinichi killed that train of thought before the words "Mouri Kogorou" and "porn" could have anything more to do with each other.

During his minor space-out, the waitress had enthusiastically greeted Ran, leading her towards a spot near the back, and as they got closer, their conversation got clearer.

"...and it's been so long, Ran-chan! You almost always come over every week at least, so when you hadn't dropped by for a month I thought you had moved away even farther!"

Ran laughed, such a familiar sound. "I would have to move hours away to not come here, Azusa-chan! This place has been my favorite since childhood, after all. I remember when Dad would bring me downstairs for a treat every time he'd came home late the night before."

"That's right, you used to live above here, didn't you? Such a long time ago, with Mouri-san..." The waitress's face showed such a strange case of sympathy that Shinichi didn't know what to make of it. So Ran did use to live here with her father, but moved away? Why...? Why did Ran get such a sad smile at the mention of it?

"That's right. And I just can't concentrate anywhere else like here. So even if I moved to Osaka, I'd still come here!"

The two girls laughed, passing by Shinichi and Kid's table, and Shinichi found himself hunching a bit unconsciously, even if there was no way Ran would recognize him. He didn't exist here. He let out a breath as they passed, one which quickly caught again at the next words out of the waitress's mouth.

"Well, we can't have the thinking spot of high school detective Mouri Ran being so far away, so don't you move again! Who knows what would happen to your cases if your mother forced you to move again!"

Shinichi didn't really hear Ran's refute to the girl or her rather embarrassed laugh, nor did he really notice the rather gobsmacked look on Kid's face which, had he noticed, would have been rather hilarious. As it was, he was rather certain he was sporting the same face as he turned the same four words over in his head.

High school detective...

..._Mouri Ran?_


	9. Chapter 9: Fall Out Of Place

Author's Note: Admittedly the housing situation was just so I could stop worrying about that, lol. And it will play into other things. In other ideas, have another surprise! Mwahaha. I'm going to have fun with slowly trickling the cast in. Who is it? Read on~

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**Chapter Nine**

Fall Out Of Place

Kaito had, admittedly, chosen Poirot as he'd wanted to stake out what had changed in Kudou's neighborhood. It would have been rather hilarious, after all, if in this universe Mouri Kogorou had really been as brilliant a detective as Kudou had made him.

Of course, Kaito hadn't been expecting for the man's daughter to be the one to fill the gap instead.

From what he knew of the Mouri girl, she had never been very interested in deduction before. She was better at it than most simply because she was around detectives all the time, but she'd never shown any preference for it. In fact, he remembered on one stakeout of Kudou after he'd returned from Conan, he'd watched them argue rather hilariously about whether he could talk about Holmes or not that day. It had been amusing if, by around the half-hour mark, a little tiring.

He would have wondered how two best friends could disagree so much, but honestly he had no room to talk as Aoko had seemed to make it her personal mission in life to disagree with him on _everything_, and he'd honestly been a little jealous that when the argument ended, Kudou and Mouri had had quite a pleasant conversation afterwards. Why couldn't he get the more agreeable friend?

Of course, there were a lot of other differences between Aoko and Mouri as well. For one, while they did look similar, it was nowhere near the level of strange identicalness he and Kudou shared. Aoko looked younger, more childish, and their coloring was even farther apart than Kudou and him. Mouri had dark brown hair and pale, blue-gray eyes while Aoko was a fiery auburn with darker blue eyes than even he had. Aoko was also shorter and, quite frankly, had nothing on Kudou's girl in the body department. No wonder Mouri turned so many heads, she really was gorgeous, although you wouldn't call her exotically beautiful. More like the perfect girl-next-door. It made him wonder exactly why Kudou wasn't going out with her. From what he could tell, their relationship had changed, but to what and how, exactly, he still didn't know.

The haircut really made her look different, though. Despite it being shorter, it made her look even less like Aoko, perhaps. More mature, certainly. Kaito managed to drag himself out of his surprise at the girl appearing to assess Kudou's reaction.

The detective was, apparently, stunned. More so by her profession than her appearance, it seemed, as he'd frozen up when they'd heard that. Kaito blinked, then frowned.

Why was she a detective? While she was undoubtedly bright and observant, and certainly better at deduction than most people would be, it had been Kudou who had levered her above the masses in that regard. Without him, Kaito doubted she'd learn enough from that layabout father of hers, unless he was massively changed.

But wait...she didn't live with him here, did she? No, the pretty waitress had certainly said that Mouri would move farther away at her mother's decision. So she lived with her? Perhaps that explained things, he had only a passing knowledge of the woman, but from what he knew, Kisaki Eri was a fierce lady with quite the head on her shoulders. If that was the change here, if Mouri had gone with her mother instead of her father, it might make more sense.

If so, what had happened in the marriage this time around?

Kaito shook his head slightly out of his thoughts. Right, too much speculation. He looked back at Kudou, who had moved on from shock to just mouthing the words 'detective...Ran?' repeatedly. It was a little funny, but now was not the time for broken detectives.

Snapping his fingers in front of Kudou's face, Kaito smirked when he blinked, focusing back on the magician. They really couldn't talk about her openly, as her "usual" seat turned out to be just two tables down, but they could discuss other things.

Namely, where the hell they were spending the night.

"So, Kudou. Today hasn't been very good luck. Any ideas on tonight and tomorrow?"

Kudou blinked at the question, apparently still reeling a bit, before it processed and he sighed, grabbing at the handle of his coffee mug. "...You said F...Kudou-san would be back tonight at the earliest, right?"

Kaito ignored the slip. In fact, it was a smart thing to do, wasn't it? Maybe he should even start thinking of this world's Kid that way, as it wasn't..._his_ Kid. "Well, the book signing ends this afternoon there, yes. Depending on when he leaves and gets on the plane, that puts him back at the early morning hours. Not the best time to discover he has house guests, probably. I wouldn't recommend dropping in tonight."

"I thought so." Kudou sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering. "If I have to sleep on a bench somewhere..."

Kaito winced, because living like a hobo was becoming more of a possibility, but before he could say anything, a tentative voice interrupted them.

"Um...are you needing someplace to stay the night?"

Both Kaito and Kudou turned to look at the speaker – the pretty young waitress. She was holding the tray with their meals and looking concerned, if a little embarrassed if her question might be too personal.

Sensing an opportunity, Kaito snapped on the charm, grinning at her with just the right amount of self-pity. "Ah, yes, we just moved here, but our original lodging choice fell through and we don't have the money for a hotel. We were thinking on imposing on one of his relatives," – A quick nod to Kudou, a long-misplaced cousin could share a last name just as easily as a non-existent son – "but he's out of the country at the moment, so we were trying to figure out what to do."

Kudou was boggling at him like he'd grown a second head, but Kaito ignored him, especially as the waitress's face moved from curiosity to empathy. Easy mark! Setting down their plates, the waitress clasped her hands together. "Oh! If you're looking for somewhere more permanent, I think I might have just the thing, if you don't mind working a bit...?"

Another lead, this was snapping together perfectly. "Oh, not at all, in fact we were trying to find jobs today, but unfortunately we are, still, unemployed." Kaito spread his hands with an apologetic smile. If this worked out, they might have board and employment!

Sure enough, her face brightened. "Then I do have just the thing! Wait just a moment!" She turned and trotted off, leaving Kaito to grin brightly at her back. Thank you, luck!

He turned back to Kudou, who had moved on from boggling into giving Kaito a strangely-intense stare. Kaito just beamed at him, tugging over his own plate and taking a bite. "Well, me may have just secured ourselves something solid, Tantei-kun. No living like hobos, yes?"

Kudou's look turned disgruntled then and Kaito snickered to himself. Sighing, the detective pulled his own plate closer. "...Now I know how you must get at least half of your information. Tell me, how many hours do you practice in front of the mirror for that charm?"

"I'll have you know, Tantei-kun, that my charm is one hundred percent natural," – this earned him a disbelieving snort – "...and may or may not be enhanced by a lot of practice on how, exactly, to use it to best effect in different situations."

"Right." Came the dry reply, but before the banter could continue, the waitress came back...with the Mouri girl in tow. That certainly hadn't been what Kaito had been expecting. The manager was there too, which was more along those lines, but why Mouri?

The waitress beamed, obviously thrilled with finding a solution to multiple problems. "Here's the two boys I was talking about, Ran-chan, manager!" Turning to Kaito and Kudou, she smiled and gestured at the two she had brought along. "Ran-chan here, her family owns the apartment on the third floor. Normally they rent it out, but they're between tenants at the moment. And the manager was just looking for help! I was thinking, if you're willing to work here, the manager can just pay Ran-chan and her mother for your work, and you can stay upstairs! That way you don't have to go looking for one or the other!"

Kaito beamed right back at her, although he faltered inwardly at the strangely _studying_ look Mouri gave them. It was a look he was far more used to on, say, Kudou or Hakuba or even Kudou's Osaka friend than her. She really was a detective in this universe, wasn't she? The look disappeared fairly swiftly however as she appeared to be satisfied with what she found. Which was good, because studying looks on women always gave Kaito the jeebies – it reminded him too much of Koizumi, and that was just..._ugh, Koizumi_ – and he didn't need Mouri deciding he was dangerous. If she was anywhere as skilled as her counterpart, she had a very real chance of taking his head off if he looked at her funny.

However, he'd apparently passed some inspection, since she smiled kindly at him. "Well, I'll have to talk to my mother about it, but I don't see why she would disagree, especially if Masutaka-san agrees." She turned to the manager. "Will you talk to my mother about it?"

The manager, a rotund but fairly tall man, also gave them a glancing look, before crossing his arms with a smile. "Well, as long as they do good work, I won't mind. I'll have them work a day or two, then give Kisaki-san my recommendations." He then addressed Kaito and Kudou. "What about it, boys. Mind being waiters?"

"Mind? This is more than I was hoping for!" Kaito exclaimed, with not entirely faked enthusiasm. This was perfect! He stood and swept into a stageman's bow before offering each of the girls a flower. Speaking of, he was going to have to replace his soon, another day and they'd start wilting... "Kuroba Kaito at your service! The regrettably-silent fellow I'm dining with is my friend, Kudou Shinichi. We'd be pleased to be of service!"

The girls took the flowers – the waitress cooing over where he'd brought it out from and Mouri with a blushing smile – and the manager grumbled, although still smiling. "Hey now, this is a cafe, not a host club. You used to work at one or what?"

"No, he's just like that naturally." Kudou's dry voice floated over Kaito's shoulder, apparently having recovered enough to actively participate, although, when Kaito looked at him, he seemed to be studiously avoiding looking directly at Ran's face as he bowed slightly to them. "Like he said, I'm Kudou Shinichi, nice to meet you."

Kaito pouted just slightly – he was just being a_ gentleman_! – before returning his attention to Mouri and the manager. "So, when do we start?"

The manager – Masutaka, was it? – waved a hand. "Tomorrow. Come down at ten, the both of you, and I'll see what can be done with you. And now that I think about it, maybe drop in on the printing company upstairs. Could get a little more spending money doing errands for them too, or you can maybe try working for them if here isn't for you. For now, you two had better check upstairs and see if it's to your liking, Mouri-chan probably has to call her mother too."

"That's right." Mouri smiled at them both, stepping forward. "In fact, I was going to go there in a little while to clean, so I have the keys on me. Why don't we go upstairs? I can give you a tour and call Mom about it."

"That would be great!" Kaito beamed. Kudou nodded, then hesitated. "...Ah, but our food..."

Masutaka just waved at them, turning for the kitchen. "I'll get some to-go boxes and bring it up along with some dinner. Don't worry about paying, employees eat free."

Kaito's grin widened – he hadn't been angling for free meals, but _bonus!_ – and he bounced slightly on his heels. For a bad start, this day sure was going wonderfully. Now that they had lodging and employment secured, they could really get down to business – finding the Night Sky and, hopefully, going _home_.

Mouri smiled at them and gestured towards the door. "Follow me!"

Leading them out of the cafe and up the small stairwell to the side, she starting digging in her school bag for something – the keys, apparently, as she pulled them out. "It'll be a little dusty, I'm afraid, and nothing's in it but the appliances, but, well, I can ask Mom about some things. Do you have anywhere to go to pick up some luggage...?"

Kaito put the appropriately-pitiful look on his face. "Unfortunately, as we were expecting someone to bring us our things tomorrow, we don't, and we just don't have the money or time to return home to get it. What we have on us is what we have."

"Oh, that's not good! I'll give a call to my boyfriend too, surely he can you lend you some clothes for work tomorrow." She smiled at them, and Kaito returned it, mentally filing away the new information. Boy friend? A quick glance showed Kudou just looked surprised and curious, not jealous, so Kaito's earlier information on his relationship with Mouri changing from romantic was correct it seemed. But boyfriend? Kaito wondered who Mouri, now a high school detective, would decide to date.

A jingle caught his attention, and Mouri swung open the door with a smile. "Here we go! Not much, just two bedrooms, a bath, and the kitchen and living area, but I doubt you need much more. You're also free to access the roof, although there's nothing really up there. Most of your neighbors are businesses, but they're all good people like Masutaka-san."

Kaito stepped in with a show of looking around. He'd been in here a few times, several disguised, several less than legal, but it really did look different without the furnishings. Still, the layout was the exact same as he remembered it. He turned to Mouri with a bright grin. "This is more than enough! I can't express how much this helps us out!"

She laughed softly and smiled back. "Just work hard and you're welcome to stay as long as you like. It'll be nice having someone here again." At this, her expression turned odd, wistful and sad, but...loving? "I have a lot of good memories here."

Shaking her head, the expression vanished like it had never been. "Anyways, I'm going to call Mom and my boyfriend! I'll leave you two to explore, the cleaning supplies are in the hall closet if you want to start. I'll be downstairs if you need me. You're helping us out too by keeping this place in good shape, so don't worry about it!"

With that, she stepped out of the apartment, closing the door behind her. Muffled footsteps trailed down the stairs as she walked away, and Kaito turned to Kudou, who was staring around with a faraway look on his face. "...So, here we are, Tantei-kun. What do you think about staying here?"

Kudou blinked, and refocused on Kaito, before quirking a smile. "...I admit, I wasn't expecting to ever live here again. It looks really weird without the furniture I'm used to, though. They almost never remodel."

Kaito snickered, moving to the living room's windows to throw them open. Mouri hadn't been lying about the dust, and despite it getting chilly as it got later in the day, a little airing out would do the apartment good. "Well, this certainly saves a lot of trouble, don't you think?"

"I suppose." Kudou agreed, moving to the hall closet, and they absorbed themselves for the next hour or so cleaning out the worst of the dust.

Mouri came back about fifteen minutes in, smiling brightly and informing them that as long as Poirot's manager remained happy with their work and paid accordingly, her mother had given the okay, and that her boyfriend would be by soon with a few sets of spare clothes. She had also brought up their food, putting it in the fridge, and had grabbed a broom and started to help them. Her appearance halted any talk about their objective, and Kudou was obviously having a hard time finding the right things to say to her without giving away anything, though considering Mouri seemed oblivious, only Kaito noticed.

Still, it wasn't awkward as Kaito managed to find idle things to prattle about and try to glean information from the girl at the same time. From what he managed to gather, she wasn't so much a famous high school detective like Kudou was as an occasional helper to her mother in order to make her cases run more smoothly. She also got approached for cases, but while she had a solid record, she wasn't overly famous. Apparently she was also angling for the police detective department instead of the more freelance Kudou, and most of her other cases were with them. Still, she had a good record, and though Kaito doubted she would ever match up to Kudou – Kaito was hard-pressed to name a detective who truly would outmatch the other teen, as even keeping up was a feat – the sharp look on her face was enough to warn Kaito that she was no slouch. She always _had_ been eerily observant, hadn't she?

So, the hour passed fairly amiably, with Kaito managing to get Mouri laughing fairly often and even getting quirks of a real smile out of Kudou occasionally, which Kaito found more rewarding. It was one thing to match wits with the boy, and while that was thrilling on its own, getting a genuine smile or laugh out of him other than his usual "I've figured out every last trick and your ass is _mine_" smirk was like pulling teeth. While upside down. With a C-clamp. Therefore it was a supreme challenge, and Kaito _liked_ challenges. And hey, he was going to be living with the guy for who knew how long. The more he knew about his sudden roommate, the better, and that included finding out that Kudou's sense of humor was surprisingly sharp, unsurprisingly _very _snarky, and getting a real smile from him rather felt like when he had successfully lifted a gem. It was about as an intensive mental workout, anyways. And here he thought that being a detective meant officially signing off all rights to humor! What a surprise.

As Kaito and Mouri were chatting about ice cream and favorite flavors thereof – unsurprisingly, Kudou didn't really like it and preferred to eat vanilla or coffee-flavored if forced, how _sad_, ice cream was the gift of gods – the girl's cellphone went off.

She pulled it out and glanced at it, laughing fondly. "Ah, he's here. As punctual as always."

Something about that sentence sent dread through Kaito, though he really couldn't explain it. Punctuality was nice, wasn't it? But still...

He cleared his throat and smiled at her. "By the way, Mouri-chan, who is your boyfriend? You never did say..."

She smiled at him, but before she answered, there was a precise rap at the door, and said boyfriend let himself in. "I'm here, Ran-san. I brought the clothes you asked for, as well as some necessities. If they had no luggage, I felt it was appropriate."

He knew that voice. Turning around, Kaito felt like either crying or just laughing for a long time, but then he felt like he wouldn't stop. Of all people...

There, in the doorway, holding up a convenience store bag in one hand and a duffel hanging from the other, was one Hakuba Saguru.

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Reviews always appreciated.


	10. Chapter 10: Walking The Labyrinth

Author's Notes: This...ended up a lot longer and more introspective than planned. Shinichi wanted to think to get himself sorted, and I had to let him. So, off he went. Huurgh not entirely happy with it, but well, it let me set up some good groundwork for the future. Also, enjoy plot at the end, yay!

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**Chapter Ten**

Walking The Labyrinth

It was far more grating being in the same room as this strange Ran than Shinichi had thought it would be. He supposed it was the knowledge that she looked, moved, and sounded like Ran, but she wasn't really. At least not the Ran he knew. So he was thankful when Kid – should think of him as Kuroba, shouldn't he? That was alias he'd chosen, right? – took over the conversation and kept not-Ran entertained.

He was just getting used to the situation and "Mouri-san" – If...when he got home, he was going to have so many problems calling Ran by name, he really didn't need this on top of the "neechan" bit – when he received another surprise in this Ran's boyfriend.

Hakuba being that boyfriend, while surprising at first, was understandable. The blond always had been a gentleman and punctual to a fault, both things his own Ran had lectured him endless hours for, and he'd obviously shown interest in Ran in that one case about the Sunset Mansion. Shinichi, still having his crush on Ran at the time, hadn't been impressed, but now that the jealousy was gone, he had to admit that they would make a good match. Hakuba would certainly never leave Ran waiting for hours, and would always remember to call if he couldn't make it, something Shinichi had always been terrible at. He had an excellent sense of time when it came to cases, but was absolutely horrible at remembering it when he was caught up in something.

Personally, Shinichi had always been a little miffed that Ran never seemed to just _call_ and ask him where he was, as it wasn't like he ignored his phone during cases, but would then proceed to chew him out for being late when he finally did show up. But he supposed that was the point of the mystical gentleman thing, not to make the lady call or otherwise take it upon herself to make sure things happened. He'd always been horrible at the gentleman thing, really. Weren't relationships supposed to be equal, after all? How could it be equal when he treated his partner as not a partner but a pet?

Shinichi shook his head slightly, getting rid of the thoughts he was losing himself in. Honestly, Hakuba wasn't a bad guy, and if he made Ran happy, well, that was great. He wondered if back home things would work out this way as well, as aside from that Sunset Mansion thing and the occasional heist Sonoko dragged Ran to, there was little opportunity for the two to meet. Ran being a detective in this world must have greatly increased their contact.

He watched as Ran greeted Hakuba with a sweet smile, even standing on her toes for a brief moment to kiss the taller teen's cheek, thanking him for "being such a dear". It was admittedly pretty funny when the normally-stoic teen got mildly flustered at this, going red and stumbling a bit in his words. He'd never thought he'd see Hakuba lose the composure he wore like armor. It was honestly kind of refreshing.

Of course, also kind of funny was the fact that Kid – Kuroba, Kuroba, he couldn't afford slip-ups – was apparently greatly put out by Hakuba's appearance. Shinichi was the only one to see the fact that the thief made a strange expression somewhat between a pained smile and 'sucking on a lemon' when he first saw Hakuba, although it had managed to smooth away in a few seconds.

Shinichi had wondered why for a moment, but then remembered that unlike his relationship with the thief, Hakuba always seemed to personally annoy Kid on some level. He wasn't quite sure who had started it, but now that he thought about it, he doubted they would ever really get along. Hakuba was a person who thrived in order and justice and painting the world into his neat little lines, and the thief obviously took great pleasure in not only coloring outside the lines, but drawing new ones altogether. It was probably just a basic personality clash.

In that case, it would probably be best if Shinichi handled most of the interaction with Hakuba. While he thought that the blond could certainly loosen up, he never had much of a problem with him, and he was always good for a Holmes talk. Despite his griping about the other teen to Ki-Kuroba in the Kudou manor yesterday, it was actually nice to have someone to talk to about his fictional idol that didn't get supremely irritated with him after about five minutes of it like Ran did.

Besides, this Hakuba was going out with this Ran, and he really didn't want to see the results of Kuroba starting to annoy the blond. He needed the thief relatively unharmed if they were going to get home.

Hakuba stepped further inside after greeting Ran, toeing off his shoes and placing the duffel and plastic bag on the ground. "Well, after hearing about the situation, I brought some things I deemed appropriate." He unzipped the duffel, and Shinichi stepped forward to see what Hakuba brought out.

The duffel contained two blankets, two towels, and several changes of clothes, including a pair for each of them that matched Poirot's dress code. Each was folded in Hakuba's usual razor precision, and Shinichi had a feeling that, from the way Kuroba was eying it, the clothes allotted to the thief would soon find themselves in decorative little heaps across the floor.

Shinichi idly wondered just what about Hakuba's neatness annoyed people. Hattori went out of his way to be extra-messy whenever the blond was about, although Hattori and Hakuba clashed worse than Hakuba and Kid ever would. Now there was a case of complete and utter opposites.

The plastic bag contained two toothbrushes and several travel-sized containers of things like soap and shampoo, as well as some plastic utensils. Ran seemed thrilled, and Shinichi would have to admit that he almost felt like hugging Hakuba himself. He'd never expected such consideration, but that was definitely a point in Hakuba's favor. Perhaps being overly-meticulous was a good thing, if it was solving a lot of Shinichi's worries. He _hated _feeling dirty.

Kuroba, it seemed, was restraining himself, and even enthusiastically thanked Hakuba for the items, reminding Shinichi to voice his own gratitude out loud. Hakuba shrugged it off with surprising modesty, blushing again when Ran beamed at him. Huh. Another point in that relationship's favor, then, the Hakuba he was familiar with would never be so modest. Or was that a base difference between this world and home?

Ran then clapped her hands. "Well, it's almost six. Why don't we eat dinner and then we can leave you to get settled in, Kudou-kun, Kuroba-kun?"

Kuroba, fully recovered from Hakuba's appearance, surged back to his feet with a brilliant grin. "A sensible suggestion, as expected from a lovely lady!" Ran blushed slightly, and oh no, there was the pestering. Sure enough, Hakuba's expression darkened from placid to annoyed at Kuroba's overt flirting. Ugh, they couldn't afford this. Standing, Shinichi reached out and grabbed Kuroba's arm, smiling brightly at Hakuba and Ran. "We'll get the food, if you got arrange the plates...?"

Not waiting for an answer, he dragged the thief into the kitchen with him, at which point he glared flatly at him, hissing. "What do you think you're doing? Do you _want_ to piss them off?"

Kuroba gave him a look so innocent that it might as well have been in some magazine about charities and saints. Shinichi didn't buy it for a moment, and squeezed the thief's arm harder. "No annoying Hakuba. I don't care about whatever pissing contest you two are in back home, none of it here. Or do you want Ran to figure out you're deliberately annoying her _boyfriend_?"

Putting emphasis on that last word worked, it was almost funny seeing the thief suddenly calculate what that meant and unconsciously grimace. Kuroba huffed, moving towards the fridge, and Shinichi dropped his hold on the thief's arm. "I know, I know, no picking on Tantei-san." Kuroba whined slightly. "But he's so _stuffy_...are you sure not just a little?"

"None." Shinichi was firm. "I am not dragging your body out of whatever ditch they find it in if you do. Besides, you may even find him tolerable if you weren't so dead-set on making his life hell."

Kuroba mumbled something that sounded like "payback's payback" as he pulled out the to-go boxes from Poirot and opened them. Inside was more sandwiches, what appeared to be a cold pasta salad, and several slices of chocolate cake, enough for the four teens to make a decent dinner. Apparently Ran had planned on staying for dinner. Kuroba's mood whiplashed so fast that Shinichi rather felt like he'd been slapped in the face when an ecstatic grin spread across the thief's face and he practically bounced out of the kitchen. "I _like_ that manager!"

Bemused at what had caused the sudden mood swing, Shinichi followed Kuroba as the other strode over to the waiting Hakuba and Ran, who had knelt in the center of the living room, plates and utensils already divided neatly between the four of them.

It was a short but fairly comfortable dinner. The food was good, thankfully not needing to be reheated as the place didn't have a microwave yet, and Kuroba's improved mood seemed to be contagious as he quickly got Ran laughing and even Hakuba smiling a bit. Obviously the blond was still hyper-alert to any flirting on Kuroba's part, but the thief did none of it beyond what could be construed as perfectly friendly and, indeed, focused his attention over the group equally. Glad that he wasn't going to have to maim the thief himself for endangering him, Shinichi settled back and enjoyed the meal.

The reason for Kuroba's sudden cheer became apparent when dessert rolled around and he set upon his slice of chocolate cake with gusto. Shinichi was vaguely amused as he took a few bites out of his own – he'd never been much for sweet things like chocolate. Who knew that an internationally-wanted criminal apparently had a huge sweet tooth?

As the chatter wound down after the cake, Ran stood, giving Shinichi and his new housemate a warm smile. "Well, we'd better get going. Remember Masutaka-san said ten tomorrow morning! I'll try to be over tomorrow with my mother and bring some other things. I'm pretty sure we have a few spare futons and the like, I wouldn't want you to sleep on the floor. And the manager will probably complain that it will affect your work performance if we don't take care of you!"

Laughing softly at her own joke, Ran glanced at Hakuba, who rose as well, brushing off his pants and giving a polite bow. "It has been nice meeting you, Kudou-san, Kuroba-san. I will probably see you tomorrow as I help Ran-san."

Shinichi stood and bowed back lightly himself. "Thank you for all of your help, you really saved us."

"Just work hard and we'll consider it even!" Ran replied, and then seemed to hesitate and give Shinichi the oddest look, like she wanted to say something delicate, but apparently decided better of it as she shook her head and took Hakuba's arm, leading them towards the door. "We'll be going now, then. Have a good night!"

"Good night!" Kuroba chirped, waving merrily at the two as they closed the door behind themselves. Shinichi felt himself slump in relief slightly. It had been a bit easier to interact with her the more he was with her, but it was still hard. He had to watch every sentence out of his mouth to make sure he didn't slip and say something he shouldn't. It was tiring.

He turned to see Kuroba picking up the remains of the dinner with swift movements, moving the leftovers into one box for easy keeping. The convenience bag Hakuba had brought was turned into an impromptu trash bag for what couldn't be re-used, and the rest went back into the fridge.

Shinichi moved to shut the window. Most of the dust had now migrated outside anyways, and it was getting cold now that the sun was down. He stared out the window at the darkened city, lights twinkling from the windows. He'd honestly never thought he'd be appreciating this scenery again as a tenant rather than a house guest. Even before he'd become Conan, he'd never thought he'd ever live here. He'd always sort of assumed Ran would move in with him back then rather than the other way around, and as Conan he'd always known he'd go back to his house once he returned. There was no reason for him to ever live here in his life.

But here he was, examining the scenery that had become too familiar for comfort during those long years as Conan, and it was mildly depressing to realize that there was a very real chance he would once again be forced to stare out this window instead of from his home once again for a very long time. He had nothing against the apartment, really, but...it always did seem to be where Shinichi ended up when he couldn't be in his normal life anymore. He wondered if that had been the starting point in his changing feelings for Ran, the mental association of living with her, living in this place, as a cage separating him from his real life. He supposed he was thinking about her a lot today, but it couldn't be helped. Seeing this world's Ran, so close to what he knew but so different, just sort of reminded him of all the things he'd been through. He'd lost his future plans, his love, but he'd gained a sister out of it. Almost two, really, since Haibara came along. But he'd still lost what to do with the emotional plans of his life. Those weren't back on track yet, and Shinichi didn't know if they ever would be. After all, his first love had been the girl he'd known all his life. He didn't have any other options, now. Ran dating Hakuba here was a reminder of that fact. She would have no problems moving on with her love life, he was sure, but he didn't even know where to start.

"Penny for your thoughts, Tantei-kun?"

Kid's voice, _Kuroba's_ voice, brought him out of his thoughts, and he blinked over his shoulder at the thief. "Eh?"

Kuroba snorted at him. "Despite that intelligent response, I doubt you were staring out the window because the glass is a particularly interesting color. It might help to talk, you know. You don't talk enough."

Shinichi arched an eyebrow, because Kuroba really wasn't qualified on how much or little one person should talk, but sighed. Who knew, maybe he'd provide some insight. And he'd be living with the guy for who knew how long. Kid wasn't the sort of person to go blabbing about personal conversations, anyways. Who would he tell about Shinichi's love life? Inspector Nakamori? Yeah right.

And it might feel nice to talk to someone about it. Ran was always saying he needed to talk about his feelings more.

Shrugging, Shinichi looked back out the window. "...Just seeing Ran dating someone reminded me of how things used to be, you know? I used to think I had it all figured out...one day I'd screw up my courage, ask her out, and then I'd be a famous detective, marry her, and...you know, standard family plan. But now..."

The thief stepped closer, leaning on the windowsill. "...Why did that change? If you don't mind me asking. I realized that you two had moved on, but I was always curious as to why. From what I saw, I thought nothing would come between you two."

Neither Kuroba's tone nor face held any hints of mocking, just interest, so Shinichi relaxed a bit. Maybe it was okay to tell him. "Being Conan just...it changed us. It's really hard to think about dating a girl who was essentially your big sister for two years. I sorta realized it when Hattori made some stupid joke about kissing her and my first reaction was disgust, like he'd told me to make out with my mom. She's always been by my side, so...I guess it was just that little push that turned her into a sister instead."

Sighing, Shinichi slouched, propping his chin up on one arm. "...To be honest, it scared me, and kinda depressed me, that day. Returning to Ran had been one of my goals, you know? One of the things I was always striving for when I was shrunk. It was like I'd lost a piece of myself. But...I just couldn't, anymore. I couldn't love her like that. Lost quite a few nights of sleep, especially since at that time _Ran_ hadn't moved on yet. But...she did, thankfully. We managed to move past it and I'm glad I still have her, my friend and sister, all in one. But now...where do I go? I'm not the sort to casually date anyone, I want to know them first, be friends. But, well, I've always been terrible at making friends, so I don't have any options, so I just don't see anything happening for me. I know Ran will find someone easily, she always had boys lining up after her on the off chance we'd never work out, but me...?"

Shinichi trailed off. He'd said rather more than he wanted, but he blamed that on Kuroba's open, encouraging face. He hadn't interrupted Shinichi, which he was rather thankful for. He'd probably become defensive if he had, or pressed for more information, or something.

But it felt nice to just tell someone. He couldn't tell Ran, because she'd feel guilty, and at the same time would make it her mission to find someone for him, and he just didn't want that. She would mean well, but Shinichi preferred to make his own decisions about this. The only other people he could tell would either laugh at him (Haibara), be even worse at romance than he was (Hattori), or just have no real input on the matter (Agasa). And that right there ended his rather short list of acquaintances he truly trusted. And only one of those passed the "naked Internet photo test", and that was Agasa, which was just _sad_.

Kuroba hummed softly, before suddenly turning around and leaning against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. "...Would you believe me if I told you I'm rather in the same boat?"

Shinichi looked over at the thief in surprise. "...You? Kaitou Kid? The man who possesses too much charisma for his own good?"

Kuroba snickered. "Pleased to hear you are aware of my charms, Tantei-kun, but yes." Here Kuroba's smile turned wistful. "...I used to like a girl. Always together, just like you and Mouri-chan, although I must admit, your Mouri-chan is more of a catch. But...well. This happened."

Kuroba flicked his wrist, making Kid's monocle appear. He balanced it on a finger, still looking up thoughtfully. "She _hates _Kid, you know. That girl's sense of right and wrong is even more black and white than Tantei-san's, and that is saying something. Even if I explained myself and she understood, she would never forgive me for the lies and the pain I've caused her and her father. She wouldn't really understand why it had to be this way, you know? So I forced myself to give up. A little different than you, but, well...I knew it wouldn't go anywhere after a certain incident. But now, there's no option left for me, either, and I'm unlikely to make one. It is a little hard to pursue real romance when one is an internationally-wanted criminal."

Shinichi blinked in surprise at how forthright Kuroba was being. Filing away the information – Her father? Hated Kid? He was unaware of any teen girls that truly hated the thief, all of them seemed to be in some orgasmic thrall about his mystery like Sonoko, or at least mildly interested like Ran – Shinichi tilted his head as he considered what to say. He decided on a question, somewhat rhetorical for both of them. "...How do you move on, really? I don't even know where to start looking."

Kuroba flashed him a grin, flicking his wrist again to send the monocle spinning in the hair. When it fell back down a hand flashed out and it was gone before Shinichi could quite see he'd grabbed it. "I'll tell you when I find the answer, Tantei-kun. But I doubt the world will stop spinning if we don't get girlfriends in a month. Besides, it hardly matters here, does it?"

Right, the other depressing topic of the day. Shinichi sighed. "...No it doesn't, although it might start mattering if we can't get home."

The other tsked, waggling a finger at him. "Now, now Tantei-kun, if I'm not allowing myself to indulge in self-pity and despair about our current situation, neither can you. As you correctly surmised right before we went on this little trip, I am looking for something, and compared to that little snipe hunt, this is easy. Why, I even know the name, legend, and properties of the gem I'm looking for! I find that a vast improvement over my normal situation."

That peaked Shinichi's curiosity. "What are you looking for, anyways? The best I can make of it is a large gem with some sort of unusual legend, probably one that's worth interest to unsavory beings considering the interest the Organization had in it."

"Now now, you've already gotten your free confirmation out of me, Tantei-kun. You're a detective, find out the rest." Kuroba winked at him, turning to head back to the kitchen. "Do you want the rest of your cake slice? I saved it for you."

It was telling that he could, somehow, read the question in the thief's words. He was getting too used to him, really, and they'd only been together two _days_. He hoped this wasn't turning permanent. He waved a hand at the other. "Eat it. I don't really care for chocolate. Who knew you had a weakness for the stuff, next chase maybe I'll just lace a pie with some sedatives."

"Ah ah, but now you've warned me and I will be extra-cautious about all sweets obtained from you in manners relating to heists. Although you are perfectly welcome to give me uncontaminated sweets anytime, I might even give you free passes from my tricks if they're exceptionally nice." Snickering, Kuroba still headed for the kitchen.

"Because you target me with your tricks so _often_." Shinichi muttered dryly, which was answered with more snickers. Shinichi turned to look back through the window. Speaking of home... "...Do you think time is passing, there...?"

"Well, honestly you are rather boring to hit, you just glare and get really stiff and cold. And Tantei-san is always such a _tempting_ target." Kuroba bounced back into the living room, the remains of Shinichi's cake slice already half-shoved into his mouth. He looked at Shinichi in apparent confusion for a moment, before looking back out of the window, looking thoughtful. "...I can't say. It might be going the same speed, or slower or faster. It might even just put us right back at the time we left when we go, which is honestly what I'm going to hope for. It will be so_ troublesome_ to explain away disappearing if it's too long."

Shinichi groaned. "Says you. Oh god, if time is really passing, I have no idea how I'm going to convince the school to let me graduate on time. Again. It was hard enough the_ first _time around..."

"I'm sure you'll do it somehow, Tantei-kun." Kuroba chirped, ever the optimist it seemed, as he polished off the cake at a speed which, quite frankly, horrified Shinichi. "Now then, as we do need to get up reasonably early tonight, we'd best turn in It is getting rather late, after all."

Shinichi stared at Kuroba, then pointedly looked at his hands, one of which still had a bit of chocolate icing on it. Kuroba glanced down and licked it off absent-mindedly. "...Are you even going to be able to sleep?"

"I'll have you know that two little cake slices are nowhere near enough to get me wired, Tantei-kun." He replied, moving to the pile of things Hakuba had left and grabbing the blankets, flicking one out onto the floor. "Now, sleeping or not?"

Rolling his eyes, Shinichi moved to take the other blanket from Kuroba, laying it out on the floor a little ways away. As they got ready to sleep in their little makeshift beds – Shinichi personally couldn't wait for Ran to bring something over tomorrow to sleep on – Shinichi contemplated the rather enlightening conversation they just had.

Kuroba had been...surprisingly understanding. And very easy to talk to. He supposed it was the magnetic charm that seemed to cling to him – he wouldn't be surprised if the other was one of the most popular people in his school, which Shinichi believed he still attended – but at the same time, it had seemed...different. Less like charisma and more like...closeness? Understanding? Because Kuroba, Kid, had really understood? He hadn't even meant to say all he had, but somehow it just came out, with none of the embarrassment that talking about such close things usually brought about. And Kuroba had even responded, giving him a surprisingly delicate piece of information. Why...?

Staring at the ceiling, giving an absent-minded reply as Kuroba wished him good night and flicked off the lights, Shinichi contemplated exactly what that meant.

It had felt, honestly, a lot like friendship. And not just the casual kind that most of his classmates hung around him for, that falseness brought about by his fame, but more real. Like Hattori, and Haibara, and Ran.

It really seemed like he was becoming friends with Kaitou Kid. And wasn't that a thought.

Letting his thoughts chase themselves, Shinichi continued staring up into the darkness until sleep finally overcame him.

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><p><p>

Holding a cup of coffee, bathed in the illuminate of his computer screen, a man leaned back in his chair, frowning in contemplation as he considered this newest development.

Someone had been in his house.

Whoever it had been was extremely skilled – almost every track was covered, no fingerprints, no hair or such left behind. Would have been covered if he hadn't spent long years becoming very attuned to any signs of unauthorized entry. It was the tiniest signs – the book he had been reading in his study was one millimeter to the left than from where he had left it, he was missing two slices of bread, a bottle in the bathroom was turned a degree to the right – that let him know that not only had someone been in his house, they had been in it for at least long enough to break into his laptop. The trail was a bit messy and obviously a hackjob, but he couldn't learn what they were doing as that was amazingly covered up, so it had been someone with skill.

And this was very bad. He knew of only two reasons someone would be in his house, looking into his computer, and one of those reasons would have left an obvious sign that it was him, so he wouldn't have worried. The other...

The other was a very bad reason, indeed.

Thankfully this laptop was strictly for work, and nothing but his writings was on it. They wouldn't have found any information they were after. But the fact that they were looking was telling. Where had he gone wrong? They'd both been so careful to not let any sign of his involvement be seen...

There was only one way to handle this. The intruder had to be waylaid before any slightest hint could be passed on. And, hopefully, an answer could be pried about why he was being looked into.

He flipped out his cellphone. It was an unholy hour, but knowing who he was calling, it wouldn't really matter. He dialed the number by memory, as keeping the number in his address book would be too telling if anyone got a hold of his phone.

He pressed dial and held it up to his ear, waiting. On the third ring, like always, the line connected, and a voice answered.

"It's three in the morning. This had better be important." Despite the words, it was fairly good-natured-sounding, but it still caused his hand to clench, because it could sound so much more _brighter_. It _had_, until that day ten years ago. And it just brought his resolve to continue their work to the forefront again. If, even just once, to hear that cheer in the other's voice again. He was of the opinion that the world had lost some true magic that day.

"Someone was here." He spoke without preamble. "I need your help casing all new arrivals in Beika."

There was a silence, then the line clicked off. He simply snapped his phone shut. After all, the shorter the calls, the less chance of something leaking. Besides, the other knew what to do from that alone.

Sighing, Kudou Yuusaku slouched back into the armchair, staring out of the window at the darkness beyond. The shadows were moving, it seemed. He just had to stay one step ahead.

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><p><p>

Reviews always appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11: Memory Highway

Author Notes: Yeah, I wanted more dialogue and stuff, but Kaito got bit by the introspective bug this time around. After Shinichi's chapter, he was like "It's my turn!" and I was just like "ugh". So yeah, about three-fourths of this is Kaito being all thinking and shit. Romance is moving at a snail pace, because I want it firmly entrenched for the boys before it becomes truly active, but I enjoy the little steps and signs it's working. However, after this all the goddamn introspection is out of the way, so due to the end, the plot will start picking up more starting next chapter. Say hi to a new, or rather old, face! Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter Eleven<strong>

Memory Highway

When Kaito's eyes snapped open, he lied still for a minute, holding his breath as he tried to figure out what had woken him. There was the muffled sounds of machinery and voices downstairs, and he tensed, before relaxing and letting his breath out with a whoosh.

Right. Different world, now living in the Mouri apartment, publishing company downstairs. Those usually got an early start, didn't they? After all, it was – Kaito grabbed for the pile he'd made of his stuff last night before going sleep and pulled out his watch – four in the morning. Awesome.

Sighing, because now he was up, Kaito pulled himself out of the roll of blanket he'd made himself into sometime during the night. Normally he woke up early anyways, and what with how uneasy a sleeper he was in unfamiliar surroundings he would have probably been up soon of his own accord anyways like yesterday, but that didn't mean he couldn't be irritated about it.

A quick trip to the bathroom reminded him that this place obviously hadn't been lived in for months at least, and Kaito would have to clean it before they had to shower. As it was, he'd probably get more dirty trying to take one now.

The noise had faded towards the bathroom and bedrooms, though, which was nice. That meant he probably wouldn't be woken up every day at the time the publishing company happened to start their daily business. That fact was enough to shake off the grumpiness, and Kaito now felt more ready to face the day with his usual cheer. And after all, it was really due to being Kid that he'd freaked out about being woken up by unfamiliar noise, so he couldn't blame the company, could he? Right.

Kudou was still dead to the world, which wasn't that surprising. He was still curled up in much the same position he'd laid down in last night, so still he almost looked dead if it weren't for the soft rise and fall of his chest. Kudou, although he wasn't a heavy sleeper – making coffee and soft humming had apparently woken him up yesterday, after all – was so obviously not a morning person, unlike Kaito, so Kaito left him to it and grabbed the bathroom cleaning supplies. They didn't have coffee here yet, so Kudou would just have to be content with a clean bathroom when he woke up.

Eying the bathroom, Kaito flipped a bottle in one hand and went to work.

The next two hours rather reminded Kaito of when he'd had to clean out the secret room Kid used, only with less tricks randomly going off and more mold. Eugh. Still, not deterred and armed with many chemical cleaners, eventually Kaito worked the bathroom into sparkling order.

Dropping the rag he'd been using on the bathtub, Kaito groaned as he straightened from his knees and stretched out, trying to work out the kinks in his back. For this, Kudou was so getting to clean the bedrooms. Good thing they'd knocked out the living room and kitchen when Mouri had been over last night. Perhaps Kaito should have thought ahead and done the bathroom then, but, well, hindsight was twenty-twenty and all that.

However, now the bathroom was clean, and Kaito wouldn't feel like he was collecting more dirt than he was washing off if he showered. Which was good, because by now he really needed one.

Returning the cleaning supplies to the hall closet, he was rather amused that Kudou still hadn't woken up. The sun was now up, and the other teen had finally moved in his sleep, rolling over and pulling a corner of blanket over his head to block out the sun. Who knew Kudou loved his sleep so much? It was actually amusing, especially since the other detective Kaito knew woke even earlier than Kaito did, and of which Kaito had a sneaking suspicion that he actually didn't need to sleep as he was a humorless robot.

Well, Kaito didn't want to spoil a good morning by thinking about Hakuba, so he just grabbed one of the towels and the little containers of bathroom supplies and headed for that shower. Despite his dislike of the blond, Kaito had to admit he was grateful for this. And hey, maybe Kudou was right, maybe if he didn't antagonize him, this Hakuba might actually be likeable. Right, and Kaito's dream vacation was an aquarium. Still, he was going out with Mouri in this universe, so he had to have some redeeming qualities here, even if the girl had beaten them into him.

He sorted through the bottles with a snort, as Hakuba still was a perfectionist neat-freak, as he'd brought bottles of every personal hygiene product under the sun. Shampoo, conditioner, facial cleanser, body wash, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, shaving cream, aftershave, deodorant, and was that _contact lens cleanser_? Kaito squinted at the bottle. Yes, yes it was. Okay then. Maybe less neat-freak and more 'grab one of everything in the little baskets of travel-sized things'. Make that obsessive completionist side, then. Shame he didn't even _have_ any of his contacts on him at the time, as he'd already ditched the disguise for his heist before the little gem issue.

Still, he shrugged and lined the little bottles up. Maybe they'd need it for something, and all this would have to last them until their first paycheck, after all.

The shower was nice and hot, and Kaito spent probably longer than he should have enjoying it. He would have loved a hot bath after the scrubbing, but that was probably best saved for the evening. Fully clean and wrapped in a towel, Kaito snatched the rest of the hygiene products and moved to the sink partition. He was about to choose the white and blue toothbrush on automatic when a thought hit him. He looked between the two toothbrushes – generic things you picked up for a few yen, the aforementioned white-and-blue one and another white one, but with yellow accents – before smirking and opening the yellow one. Kudou probably wouldn't even notice, but it would be a good private joke for Kaito, having the famous detective brush his teeth with the Kid-colored toothbrush. Heh heh.

Teeth brushed and humming to himself at his little bit of subtle triumph over law enforcement, Kaito strode back into the living room to be greeted by Kudou awake and sitting up, blinking blearily at the windows like he'd never seen it before. Definitely not a morning person.

Making sure his smirk looked more like a simple smile, Kaito greeted the sleepy detective. "Good morning!"

"Mmnnnghfff." That might have possibly been 'good morning'. Or at least an attempt at one. Kudou looked at him, rubbing at his eyes, before suddenly he looked a lot more awake. And mortified. "Where are your _clothes_?"

Kaito blinked. Right, still in the towel. Raising one eyebrow, Kaito looked down at himself, then back up at the detective, a little unsure why this seemed a huge issue. He pointed towards the neat pile next to the mess he'd left his blanket in. "...Over there?"

"Why are they over there and not on you!" Was Kudou _blushing_? Yes, so he was. Kaito let himself really smirk this time. Hmmn, so Hakuba wasn't the only easily-flustered detective, nice to know. He'd thought Kudou's reaction to that little stunt with the bra on the ship had been because he thought Mouri had been left naked in a lifeboat, and it probably had been, but maybe he would get the same reaction if he implied, say, Hattori from Osaka was naked. Interesting.

"Really, Tantei-kun, you've played sports, surely you're not embarrassed by this? This even covers enough to be publicly legal," – one of the laws not relating to thievery that he knew by heart, due to an incident with Aoko, a public swimming pool, and an inflatable scaly horror – "And this is my, well, our own living room at the moment. I doubt anyone cares."

Kudou just went redder, mumbling something as he grabbed his own towel and, pointedly, his own clothes for the day. "I'm going to take a shower." Kudou announced rather pointlessly as he stood up and strode for the bathroom. The door slammed shut after him, and Kaito gave into his giggles, snickering as he strode over to his "area" and picked up the outfit for today. Kudou was just so fun when he was off-balance, bright red and sputtering, in a way much like Aoko was, although he doubted Kudou would ever follow up outraged mortification with attempts to relocate his head by mop. It was nice to be reminded of home, though. He'd rather laid off the teasing on Aoko since his revelation, and he admittedly missed the relationship they'd once had.

It took less than a minute to dress, and as Kaito wandered into the kitchen, grabbing one of the remaining sandwich halves for breakfast, he let his mind drift. That talk with Kudou yesterday had been enlightening. To hear that someone had the same problems he was currently having was something of a relief, enough to get him to open up a little bit and even share something like his own problems with the other teen. He'd never planned on ever talking about it, mainly because the reason was due to him being Kid and thus he couldn't talk about it to anyone in his regular life, and the chance of Kid sitting down with someone and having a talk about feelings was minimal. But he was Kid, basically, to Kudou, and that minimal chance had arisen, and it had felt a little lifting talking about and knowing that someone was in the same boat, although they had boarded the boat due to entirely different reasons. Unlike Kudou, he doubted he could ever really talk about the event that had made him aware Aoko and him weren't ever going to happen. Partially because it would reveal too much about who his best friend was, and therefore who he had to be, but more because he didn't like remembering it himself.

It had been just a little while ago, maybe a month, at Aoko's birthday. It had fallen on a Sunday this year, and Inspector Nakamori actually had had the day off for once. Aoko had been ecstatic, and he'd listened to her chatter about it for weeks beforehand. She had been thrilled that, for once, her dad wouldn't be working on her birthday, and apparently they were planning a big father-daughter dinner night at some fancy restaurant. Kaito had been happy for her, and had held off delivering his latest heist notice. The full moon had been on Aoko's birthday, so he couldn't pass it up, but as she wasn't having her party at night this time, he knew he'd be able to make it this time. So, since Inspector Nakamori wasn't going to be in the office, he figured he could deliver it after her party, just a few hours before the actual heist. That way, even if he got called in, the man would have time to have that dinner with his daughter. He'd even made the riddle exceptionally easy due to this, only needing to solve what, exactly, the target was, as he'd even written the time and place clearly on the notice. He probably wouldn't have the huge audience he liked, but he figured that could be part of his present to Aoko, depriving Kid of his beloved audience would make her happy.

He'd been in an exceptionally good mood due to his plan all day, and so had been surprisingly nice to Aoko, and she'd been having a wonderful day when he left to deliver his notice and get ready. He hadn't been too surprised when Nakamori showed up, but he figured that they'd probably had that dinner or at least enjoyed a few hours together, so he hadn't been concerned.

So, of course, when he turned up at school tomorrow to find Aoko in a horrific mood, he'd been honestly surprised. Her day had been wonderful yesterday, hadn't it? Why was she so upset today? She wasn't even _talking_ to him, hadn't waited to walk to school with him, and he was worried. He got even more worried when she actually came home with him after school, despite still not really talking to him. Only when they finally got into the privacy of his own room had he learned the reason. Of course, it still took a while, but that was because he had to calm down Aoko who had, as soon as they were in his room, suddenly clung to him and burst into tears.

He managed to string the reasons together through the choked words she managed to get out during her tears. It seemed that just when he'd left his notice, Nakamori had gone to the office just for a brief check-in to deliver some paperwork from a different case. Upon hearing about the freshly-delivered heist notice, of course the man had set to working on it immediately and directing the preparations. So caught up had Nakamori been that he'd forgotten it was his day off and, indeed, forgotten about his dinner with Aoko. She had been in fact left waiting for hours at the restaurant, and, as the heist had been at a rather late time, Nakamori hadn't gone home until around two in the morning. While the man had been home for her party, that had been mainly for friends and Kaito knew it wasn't the same to Aoko. She had been really looking forward to that dinner. When the inspector finally returned home, he'd found a very irate Aoko, and, apparently, the two had had a very large fight about Kid, which had ended in both stomping off to their rooms and not speaking to each other yet. If Kaito knew anything about the Nakamoris, he knew that they'd probably make up tonight, as both father and daughter had the same fierce temper that exploded violently but at the same time vanished just as quickly.

But what mattered was that Aoko was hurt, and it Kid who did it. Even if he'd originally felt a flash of irritation at her father, it had subsided because he knew it was still_ his _fault. Kaitou Kid drove the man into a frenzy, it was his _life_ to capture the thief that had eluded him for two decades now, and it was that obsession that made him forget something so important. So, once again, Kid had hurt Aoko.

Many chalked up Aoko's dislike of the thief due to her father's indoctrination, and that was some of it. Another part was, as a police officer's daughter, Aoko held the law in very high regard and despised anyone who defiled it. But the biggest reason, the one Kaito knew to be the real reason she so hated the thief, was because of how much Kid hurt her and her family. She hated how her father came home so tired, hated how he was so irritable all of the time because of Kid's continued freedom, hated Kid for causing these kinds of arguments. Aoko wanted Kid behind bars so her father would be happy again. And Kaito just couldn't give her that.

It was then, petting her hair as she whispered how much she hated the thief, sounding so _bitter,_ that Kaito had realized that he could never be with her. Even if he explained, even if she understood, she wouldn't be able to accept the fact that he couldn't stop, couldn't hang up the cape. Even if the bastards who killed his father were now behind bars, Pandora was still out there, and Kaito couldn't, _wouldn't_ rest until he found it. He wouldn't allow the chance for some idiot with more money and ambition than morals to decide they rather liked the idea of immortality. He couldn't allow anyone else to be killed over it, couldn't allow someone to lose their world as he had. Even if it took him the rest of his life, he would always be searching. Because this mission was more important than anything. Kaitou Kid was more important. More important than Aoko, more important than _Kuroba Kaito_, even. No matter how much of his own personal happiness he had to sacrifice, Kaito wouldn't stop. And Aoko would never understand that.

So, Kaito had closed his eyes, said goodbye to yet another slice of himself that he had to sacrifice for Kid, and had done his best from then on to comfort Aoko as the best _best friend_ he could be, the only thing left he could give her.

And so, Kaito had found himself suddenly adrift in the emotional aspect, just like Kudou was. Kudou, too, had had to let his love for his childhood friend die, although probably not as consciously as Kaito had done. But it had died just like Kaito's had, under the weight of too many lies meant to protect himself and others, and a secret, second identity that was more important than life itself.

Of course, there were differences. Kudou couldn't reveal who he really was under pain of death, literally, as if Kudou Shinichi ever returned while the Organization was still around, he would be killed with something more permanent than untested poison, along with all he knew. Kaito could have hung up Kid's cape even while they were around and returned to being Kuroba Kaito full-time at any time and suffered nothing for it except the bitterness knowing his father's killers were still free. Kuroba Kaito had been, still was, perfectly safe and comfy in his real life, with no death threats hanging over his head, as Snake and his lot had never been very bright about connecting the dots that the Kid they killed years ago just happened to have a magic-practicing son, who was large enough to possibly fit into a certain white suit eight years later.

And Kudou had told his girl his secret, after that threat was gone, and she had accepted it. Kaito couldn't help but admit jealousy at that. Kudou had had someone who would have understood even if he'd told her while he was still shrunk. Of course, it helped that as soon as the Organization was gone and an antidote made, there was no reason to lie anymore. Kaito couldn't stop lying until Kid really was retired forever, and he was nowhere near close to that unless he got lucky the next heist. But still, she had accepted Kudou for it. Aoko never would have, especially as he couldn't stop.

So Kaito's situation still was a little different. He knew now that he would never make a move unless he found someone who would accept Kid too, which meant that the best options were the ones he met as the thief. That came with its own depressing problems, as the only people he met as Kid were other criminals, law enforcement, or crazed fangirls. Criminals Kaito himself rather disliked, as he had never liked people who were willing to hurt others for their own gain, law enforcement was an obvious ha, _no_, and quite frankly the crazier of Kid's fangirls just _scared _Kaito. Fans were fine, fans were great, Kaito loved having fans, but _fanatics_ scared him worse than if the entire Task Force sprouted fins and huge, glassy, soulless eyes and gaping mouths meant to drag you to a dank, dark underworld...okay, _not_ thinking about that anymore.

Kaito drew himself out of the whimpering ball he'd curled himself into – he now knew the shape of his future nightmares and oh god, he was _never sleeping again _– and sighed, rubbing at his forehead. His good mood had rather vanished at the depressing turn his thoughts had taken, and he couldn't have that. He was going to be starting work in – he checked his watch – two and a half hours, he had to be chipper! Not to mention that if he acted even a little off-kilter, Kudou would pick up on it, detective he was, and might even worry about him. While hilarious in his own right, because who would have thought that Kudou would ever worry about a thief, but the other day had proved that he _would_, and worried detectives were such a pain. Always hanging close, not really asking, but giving you those knowing, _asking_ looks...damn them for being able to interrogate without even using words, because those kinds of looks always made Kaito want to spill his guts just to get them to _stop_.

His mother was terribly good at them too. Strange, that, he was pretty sure _she_ wasn't a detective.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Kaito finished off the sandwich that he'd left off eating somewhere during his introspection. Standing and dusting off his hands of crumbs, he glanced around. Nothing like a little cleaning to take his mind off things.

He collected the blankets and his clothes from yesterday, going to the little alcove between the hall closet and bathroom. Like he remembered, it was the laundry room, and thankfully still equipped with washer and dryer. They didn't have any detergent yet, but that could be remedied soon, hopefully. If all else failed, they could beg Mouri tonight to bring some, it was one of the few things Hakuba hadn't thought to bring.

He plopped his casual clothes and the blankets in a pile in front of the washer. Kid's undershirt was taken out, and Kaito carefully divested it off all the little trick supplies it had been holding before adding it to the pile, nudging it under an edge of blanket. The tie, gloves and socks were also all carefully cleaned of trick supplies – amazing the things one could hide in a tie – and found their way into the pile next to the shirt. Now no one would find the incriminating bits of his Kid uniform unless they dug through the laundry, and he doubted even_ Hakuba_ was that nosy without suspicion.

He brought out the pants and suit jacket. The jacket could be left out, as Shinichi had been wearing it yesterday, and it being missing from their wardrobe would be suspicious. Since it was already missing its supplies as Kaito had taken them before giving it to the detective, he merely hung it off the back of the door. A quick resewing of the shoulder seams and it was back to being his Kid suit jacket. It would have to wait to be cleaned until he got his hands on some of those home dry-cleaning kits, though. The pants joined their incriminating mates under the blanket. He'd have to remember to pick them out later and give them the same dry-cleaning treatment as his jacket, but he couldn't separate them now, as neither of them had been wearing white pants yesterday and Hakuba hadn't brought any, so they couldn't be explained away.

Laundry taken care of, Kaito headed back out. Kudou was done, as he water had shut off, although he hadn't appeared yet. Dressing, then. Kaito smirked to himself, detectives and their modesty.

The living room and kitchen were easy to pick up, as they hadn't gotten anything out since last night. The last sandwich half was left out for Kudou to eat, and Kaito made a short trip outside to dispose of their trash. When he came back, Kudou was out of the bathroom, brushing his teeth. Despite being big on him due to Hakuba's lanky frame, Kaito had to admit the detective looked stylish. Something about his bearing always made him look extra-snappy in formal clothes, probably the prim and proper attitude. He always did seem to spend a good of time in suits, too, even if it was just his school uniform. Which was good, as from what he'd seen, Kudou had a great wardrobe – his first raid on the other's closet had revealed a lot of brand name clothes, _expensive _brand names clothes, clothes seemed to be Kudou Yukiko's other hobby besides cameras – but apparently put no more thought into clothes than to grab the first things that fit. It led to some...interesting fashion choices.

He waited until the detective was done with his morning toiletries before speaking. "I left out breakfast for you. We have about two hours until work, I figure it might be good to do some neighborhood scoping, maybe beg coffee of Masutaka-san."

Which, in Kaito's terms, meant strategic placement of bugs, although Kudou probably expected he'd already done it. Well, he had, but it was time to bug more than the living room. He really didn't like permanent bugs like this, but without his doves he couldn't have mobile surveillance. Pity he'd brought none on this particular heist, but perhaps a blessing. He wasn't quite sure how to explain away why he'd need birdseed. It was funny how much the detective brightened at the mention of coffee, though.

"All right." Kudou grabbed the sandwich off of the kitchen counter, and they headed out. Kaito locked the door behind them with the key they'd been given last night – Kaito made a note to get a few copies made on the mental list of things to get on first paycheck, a list that was growing rather fast – and they spent the next hour or so just, well, walking around.

They had dropped into Poirot first, Kaito managing to wheedle out a coffee and a hot chocolate to go. The manager had gruffly reminded them to be back in time to start, although he'd noticeably hid a few chuckles at the way Kudou had looked at him like he was saving him from a deserted island shipwreck when he'd agreed to give them the coffee. Sipping his hot chocolate, Kaito enjoyed the crisp fall morning and let it chase away the depressing feelings he'd fallen into earlier. Nothing like a nice day to cheer one up, and once Kudou had gotten enough caffeine to be amiable, nice company too. Kaito managed to get the detective started on soccer, and the hour passed rather pleasantly as the discussed sports, moved onto physics, and then into a debate about magic.

It was rather enlightening to learn that Kudou could sit back and appreciate a magic show, but that he also found his own fun in deciphering the tricks and to him that was just as entertaining. Explained why he always seemed to enjoy himself so much debunking Kaito's tricks at heists. Kaito was torn between being annoyed that Kudou didn't just sit back and let the magic work on him, but he also had to grudgingly admit that there was merit in Kudou's views, too. Kudou didn't see the fun in believing in it, but he did admire magicians for being so skilled at what they did, and the more difficult a trick, the more he was pleased with solving it, and impressed with the magician. Kaito supposed that magicians seemed like a big box of puzzles to a riddle-loving person like Kudou, and honestly it made him pleased when Kudou, lit up with the enjoyment of the debate, had honestly told him that Kaito was the best magician he'd ever seen, even if "there are better ways to ply your trade than thievery".

Getting such an honest compliment from the reserved Kudou made Kaito feel rather like he'd won an exclusive reward. Kudou had a habit of knocking people down pegs instead of complimenting them, so to receive one was like a rare treat. It definitely broke whatever lingering depression he'd had, and he'd spent most of the walk back towards Poirot beaming brightly even though they had now moved into a minor argument over the merits of explaining magic tricks to others versus just keeping his deductions to himself. While Kaito would back down and allow Kudou to find his own enjoyment in his tricks – as a magician it was his job to make people smile, and if solving his tricks made Kudou smile, _really_ smile, well that was one way of doing it he supposed – he wasn't about to let the detective turn other's enjoyment of the impossible into just an easily-solved trick. That just wouldn't do.

The debate had ended as they entered Poirot. They were early, but that was fine as it allowed them to observe the cafe at work. Kaito, having pulled off short stints in every working position this place offered, wasn't too worried, but Kudou looked strangely...well, not worried, but apprehensive perhaps? From what he knew the detective had never had plans to get any sort of job like this, and with his record, he was set to become a well-rewarded detective from the start. Knowing Kudou, though, he wasn't finding this demeaning, but...

As he watched Kudou, who seemed to be nervously watching groups of people, it dawned on Kaito. Kudou was nervous about the customers. He'd never been much of a people person from what Kaito had researched. A genius at understanding motives, and perhaps more of an actor like his mother than obvious at first glance from the way he played the police and public with his demeanor at cases, but when it came to direct contact, he'd always been awkward and overly-direct. Now, for however long they were here, Kudou would have to act polite, accommodating, and – god forbid – _cheery_. Even as Conan his "cheery" always seemed just this side of "creepy little soul-sucker" to Kaito – although maybe some bias was slipping into that, Kudou loved pulling the "I'm a cute innocent little boy" act on him when he'd figured out his disguise, and so Kaito had sort of come to dread whenever Conan acted extra-chipper as it usually morphed into that damned shark-like hunting smirk soon after.

So, Kudou seemed to be getting stage fright about being a common waiter. Kaito would have laughed, but then Kudou would sulk for the rest of the day at him, and that would put a damper on things. Kudou, he'd found, was far more pleasant and fun when he _wasn't _grumping at you, which was rather opposite Hakuba. Hakuba grumpy was the funniest thing ever, Kudou grumpy just kind of made Kaito feel like he should be apologizing.

He eyed the cafe, then the counter. For those just wanting a drink, there was a coffee counter alongside the left of the cafe, lined with stools. The barista was a part-time job too, it seemed. Maybe, if he worked some charm, he could get the manager to train Kudou there instead. There was less personal interaction there and baristas tended to be expected to be calm and aloof anyways. It would suit the other teen, really.

Kaito blinked, then realized he'd just planned to help Kudou fit into his new job more comfortably with no plan of receiving something in return for it, then snickered quietly to himself which earned him a confused look from said person. A thief, going out of his way to help a detective, just to be _nice_. Koizumi would probably find it hilarious. Or a herald of the apocalypse. Knowing Koizumi, there would be a high chance of both.

It soon was just a few minutes to ten, and the manager waved them into the kitchen. It was easy enough to say he had previous waiting experience – which he did, just not..._legally_ – and so he was waved off to follow someone for the day. A pretty girl, although not the same one as yesterday. Before he left, he did manage to put in a word about the coffee thing, causing him a confused look from Kudou and a thoughtful one from the manager. As he followed his assigned waiter, he noted out of the corner of his eyes that the manager had moved and was now talking to Kudou and the barista of the day.

Smirking to himself at a well-executed plan, Kaito then launched his attention fully into his own job, or well, what attention it required. There was no need to act chipper, because he was, and even if he wasn't faking it would be child's play with his skills, and remembering the orders he was given was so trivial he didn't need to write them down, though he did just to cover bases. Give him an hour and the menu would be memorized too.

The waitress was pleased with how "quick" he was picking everything up, and so around lunchtime the manager saw that he was obviously having no problems and sent him off on his own, obviously happy he'd secured good work. Kudou looked to be doing fine as well, apparently mostly just learning different coffee blends and mixes today, his job apparently required more memorization that Kaito's did, though he doubted it would be any more work for Kudou than waiting was for Kaito.

He hid his smirk behind his normal cheerful smile. Really, easiest job ever. Luck really did like him to land him something so pleasantly _easy._

Unfortunately, he rather had this thought turned upside-down once noon rolled around.

He had been in the kitchen at the time, fetching a refill for his current table, when the waitress – the manager's daughter Masutaka Kiyoko, apparently – poked her head in, addressing Kaito.

"New customer at table seven, he's yours, Kuroba-kun. He's a regular too, so take good care of him!"

"Of course!" He trilled at the girl, who smiled and ducked out hurriedly, as it was currently in the middle of the rush for lunch. Grabbing the refilled sodas, Kaito left the kitchen, first dropping off the drinks at their intended destination, before heading for his new customer.

Table seven was in the corner, right behind the one that apparently Mouri liked to sit at. Someone about that tugged at his attention, but as it wasn't immediately apparent he just filed it away for future examination. The "regular" appeared to be a middle-aged man, with short black hair that, although swept into a controlled style, was obviously still a bit wild and not fully tamed.

Something about it was also _screaming_ at him, but he just didn't know what. Now feeling a bit more wary, he schooled himself into blank cheerfulness and walked over to the table with the same light, bouncy step he'd used all morning. Coming to halt next to the table, he drew up his best bubbly voice and smile. "Hello! What may I get you today?"

The man looked up at him from the menu, and only long years of a memory of a quiet, deep voice rumbling the words "Poker Face" in his mind kept the smile on his face and not, say, abject shock. Which was certainly what he was feeling instead. Along with perhaps gibbering hysteria and a feeling like he'd rather seen a ghost. Or, well, the next best thing.

Sitting there, giving him a faintly-curious but oh-so-schooled perfectly pleasant face much like the one that _had _to be Kaito's face right now, was Kuroba Toichi.

The face was older than he remembered it, _ten years_ older of course, but it was still so close to what he _knew_ and, oh god, now was _not _the time for a hysterical meltdown in the cafe! No matter how much he wanted to have one! Poker Face, Poker Face, the man that taught him that was sitting _right there_, and oh god, _Poker Face_.

Then Toichi's eyes flickered towards Kaito's name tag, eyes widening just slightly that in anyone else would have been a full-body double take, and Kaito suddenly felt like the world was dropping out from under him. Or he was having that dream again where his hang-glider's struts snapped, that was never a good one.

He'd used his name here, for this job, his goddamn _real name_, and now he was wearing the name tag that the manager had handed him this morning with its little incriminating kanji for "_black_" and "_wing_" written on it and he'd cheerfully put it on without a second thought and here he was, standing in front of the man that he knew had no young male relatives in all of Japan and there was no one else with the rather unusual name because he'd goddamn looked and the only one was him but he was freaking _dead _here. _Do not have a meltdown_!

"...Ah, yes. I believe I will have a coffee to start. Cream, no sugar." Came that deep voice that he was replaying right now just to keep his composure, and it almost made him lose it again. He blinked – not time to start crying, cry in the bathroom! – and smiled, hoping it was as vapid as it appeared. Vapid, cheery waiter, that is all he was, had to project that...

"Coming right up!" He chirped, still smiling, and turned, moving away perhaps a bit too fast for politeness, but if he wasn't called on it he didn't care. Oh god, he was sitting right there, his father was there, and Kaito couldn't do any one of the things right now he really wanted, like have a hysterical meltdown, run far away because Toichi had to be suspicious of him now, or just run back and hug the man and never let go because he thought he'd never have this again, a chance to see his father _alive_, and he really couldn't cry here, he just couldn't.

Making a beeline for the kitchen, he missed the concerned look he got from Kudou.

He also missed Toichi sitting back in his seat and flipping out a phone.

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><p>Reviews always appreciated.<p>

Fun fact for the day: The "black" and "wing" are the literal readings for Kaito's last name, "Kuro" being black and "ba", short for hane, being wing/feather (these terms are interchangeable with this particular word). His first name is "pleasant" (kai) and "star" (to, an older kanji that is now only used in names like Kaito and Hokuto (the North Star)). For the curious, Kudou is something along the lines of "crafted wisteria" ("ku" is the crafted part, I'm speculating on this, and "tou" is wisteria, changed to "dou" due to the u in front of it), and Shinichi is "new one" (shin = new, ichi = one). Not "One Truth", sadly, which is a very common misperception.


	12. Chapter 12: All Walls Down

Author Notes: This chapter covers two big plot hurdles, one involving the boys, and one involving the Organization. Yay! Enjoy!

An alternate point of view for this chapter is being written as a thank you for reaching 100 reviews! Thank you so much! Please continue to enjoy the story! The special reward will be posted in my stories Stream Of Consciousness, please look for it soon!

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><p><p>

**Chapter Twelve**

All Walls Down

Shinichi watched Kuroba disappear into the kitchen, a faint frown working its way onto his features.

Something had disturbed the thief greatly. Something involving the new customer. Enough for Shinichi to see it. While that novelty seemed to be wearing off pretty fast with how much he seemed to be doing that these days, it was still a problem that he could tell, because that meant the thief really was upset.

He studied the man as surreptitiously as he could. Maybe mid-forties, Japanese, around one hundred eighty-four centimeters tall. Well-dressed in a casually-formal style, light blue and red pinstripe dress shirt, white blazer jacket, charcoal gray slacks, black loafers. Black hair that was maybe getting a little gray at the temples but not much, neat small mustache, too far away to get an accurate color reading but they appeared a dark blue.

He also looked vaguely familiar, in a way that bugged Shinichi. Not as if he'd met the man, but had seen him before, like perhaps in a photo. Shinichi felt his frown get more pronounced, and made a forceful effort to smooth it away into blank passivity. Right, still at work. He turned back to the barista who was showing him the ropes, listening to the babble about proper coffee amounts for espresso, as he mentally worked over what could have thrown the thief for a loop.

Obviously, the first option was that the man was someone the thief knew, at least back home. Someone who unpleasant memories were associated with, perhaps? Enough to get a reaction at least. Perhaps one of the Organization? No, he was wearing white, unless there had been a huge dress code swap between universes, which could also be possible. He put the possibility in the back of his mind.

His attention was drawn back to the man as he saw the glimmer of plastic. A cellphone? The keypad was hidden so Shinichi couldn't catch what he was texting, but that was worrying. Or he could have been having an innocent conversation. Right, paranoia.

Debating the pros and cons of letting his paranoia run rampant about the man or assuming innocence until proven guilty, Shinichi almost missed Kuroba's reappearance. The thief looked near some breaking point, even if he doubted anyone else saw it. The way his eyes flicked around, never quite landing on the man's face, the muscles in his neck being slightly more defined than usual due to the tenseness they were apparently in, the way the slightest slouch the thief normally walked in had straightened into a ramrod straight posture. Every little bit was a clue that practically screamed that Kuroba wasn't happy. If he wasn't wired to muffle his footsteps at all times and was wearing something other than tennis shoes Shinichi would bet his footsteps would be hard and abrupt.

Shinichi glanced at the clock. Lunch was winding down and most of the crowd had filtered out during the past five minutes, and they'd been here around three hours. If he remembered right, they were only staying until six, which meant now was a perfect time for a break.

Setting down the cup he was cleaning, he smiled politely at his teacher for the day. "How do we take our breaks?"

The barista, a man in his early twenties by the name of Murakawa Jun, blinked, apparently surprised at the question. Well, it was the first one Shinichi had asked all day, he'd never needed to ask many questions when it came to rote memorization. "Ah...just ask anytime, though usually you need to have been here at least two hours. You're probably good to have one, you're here six hours, right? You'll get a thirty-minute lunch, off the clock."

Shinichi nodded. "Thank you. I think I'll take mine now, if that's all right?"

Murakawa waved him off. "Yeah, we get busier later in the afternoon so it's good to do one now."

Murmuring a polite thanks, Shinichi slipped from behind the counter and went to find Kuroba. After serving the man his coffee, he'd apparently retreated back into the kitchen.

Shinichi found him easily, as he seemed to be doing the dishes with a single-minded relentlessness. Definitely upset. Shinichi eyed him for a moment – wasn't there, you know, a dishwasher? Right, he'd seen the man go outside a minute ago for a smoke break – before turning to the manager. "Masutaka-san? May Kuroba-kun and I take our lunch now?"

"Huh?" The man turned towards him, raising an eyebrow, before glancing around then waving a hand. "Right, not busy, so go ahead. Be back in thirty minutes. Take anything from the fridge you want to eat, it's stocked for employees."

Shinichi smiled at him. "Thank you." Receiving a grunt in reply as the man went back to cooking, Shinichi turned and grabbed Kuroba's arm. The thief actually_ jerked_ at the touch, turning towards Shinichi and blinking owlishly.

"Lunch. Let's go." Shinichi said without preamble, worry making him blunt. There were so many reasons to make sure Kuroba didn't freak out, and he would be lying if personal worry wasn't the top of the list. He really did care about the idiot, damn it.

He just dragged Kuroba along, who followed him in silence, still looking rather like a lost puppy. Shinichi stopped and grabbed two of the cheap bentou boxes in the fridge as they left. He ignored the man in the corner – who flicked his wrist and made something disappear when they came out of the kitchen, a magician? – and just led Kuroba out of Poirot.

The day had warmed slightly since the morning, and now was hovering in that perfect fall chill that was cool enough to not work up a sweat, but not cold enough to be uncomfortable. Shinichi's favorite type of weather, but now was not the place to think about it.

He traced the route to Beika Park automatically, the recreational area just as he remembered it. Leading Kuroba to one of his favorite spots, an out-of-the-way bench surrounded by maple trees that were a brilliant red in this season, he sat down, pulling the thief down next to him.

He shoved one of the lunches into the thief's lap. "Eat."

Kuroba blinked again, but during the walk had apparently managed to regain a shred of himself, as he quirked a smile. Not up to his usual standards, but it was there.

There was some crinkling of cellophane as they opened the lunches, and for the first few minutes both just ate in silence. Waiting for Kuroba to compose himself, Shinichi spent his time watching the park. Being a weekday, there were barely any people about, although a few elderly couples were taking strolls through the park, and there were two mothers with young children chatting not that far away. There was the faintest breeze that was causing Shinichi to brush back his bangs every once in a while. It was a nice day, really. How long had it been since he'd been able to sit down and appreciate that? Ever since he returned it was a pattern of school, cases, and sleep, with copious amounts of paperwork for the first two.

It figured, that the first vacation he was able to take was an involuntary one to another universe. At least he hadn't run into any murders yet.

After about five minutes passed, Shinichi glanced towards his current partner. Kuroba was picking over the the food, seemingly having barely eaten anything. Still not recovered, then. Shinichi felt himself frowning. He was usually the one being pestered to eat, not the other way around.

They really couldn't have this. Kuroba had to be in perfect form if they were going to keep on doing this and find a way to get home. So, as much as he didn't want to, he was going to have to press the thief.

He closed his eyes, then sighed. "...Who was that man?"

Kuroba didn't respond for a moment, and Shinichi wondered if the thief was working up the nerve to be flippant about it. Which, while it would probably put him closer to where he had been, was not what they needed. He'd heard the waitress say he was a regular, so Kuroba was going to have to face this.

But then Kuroba straightened, taking a breath like he was preparing himself for something, like a show. "His name is Kuroba Toichi. One of the best magicians to have ever lived, in my opinion."

Kuroba Toichi...? Shinichi's mind flashed through several facts. He knew that name. Magician club murder, Kid in disguise had said he was his favorite magician, right? Also now he knew where he'd seen the man, that was the name of his mother's tutor in disguise. He'd never met the man in person, though he'd seen several photographs. Also Kuroba was – obviously – using the man's last name. He had passed away in a magic accident...ten years ago.

Conclusions came together, leaping like lightning from the facts even if he didn't want them too. Master magician and disguise artist. Died ten years ago. Kuroba was using his name as an alias. _Kaitou Kid_ first vanished ten years ago. The second Kid was sitting next to him, a self-proclaimed fan of the man. It all leaped to one answer.

"He was the first." Shinichi blurted out, and noticed Kuroba's hands clench around his chopsticks. "You knew him. He's dead back home, that's why you're so shocked."

Kuroba managed a weak chuckle. "...Observant as always, Tantei-kun." Closing his eyes, the thief slouched back against the bench. "Yes. No use denying now, is there? And I, like an idiot, used the man's son as a disguise when...when in this world it was the son that died at the tender age of nine."

Ah, that would explain why Kuroba freaked. Kuroba Toichi, who had to be Kid in this world, as he was still alive, would know that his son was dead and thus couldn't be serving him coffee. But something else nagged at Shinichi. Something wasn't quite right about Kuroba's reaction. Would just a fan react so badly to a dead man's reappearance? And why be so nervous about being found out? Kid was never like this whenever Shinichi had deduced one of his disguises to be false. Wait, _son_...? A son that would now be how old...?

It came together in a single, clear fact.

"No, you _are _that son." He breathed, and Kuroba's lips thinned. "It's not a disguise."

Silence was the answer for a long moment. Busy city sounds filtered through in the background, but Shinichi paid them no attention, focused entirely on the young man sitting next to him.

Kuroba seemed to slouch suddenly, before chuckling softly, a strange smile on his face as he turned towards Shinichi, sketching as best a bow as he could form the sitting position. "As brilliant as always. Kuroba Kaito at your service."

Shinichi just stared for a moment, a bit blindsided that Kuroba had admitted to it. This wasn't an alias, it was the thief's real name and now Shinichi had it, had it and his face and could make the thief's life hell when they returned home. If they did.

Instead, he just sighed softly. "...Well, I can see now why you're upset."

The tiniest bit of tension seemed to leave Kuroba, and for a moment Shinichi felt pleased with himself for helping ease some of his stress. The next moment he wondered what the hell he was thinking with that.

Straightening, Kuroba sighed as well, plucking a carrot out of the lunch and staring at it like it held the meaning to life. "...It is a little startling to be serving coffee to your own father, yes. Especially one who died ten years ago."

Shinichi winced, then was suddenly hit with a thought. "...Does he know it's you?" The Kid sitting in front of him was a master of observation, he doubted the first had been any less. Especially since Kuroba was wearing that cheery name tag with his real name printed on it.

"Undoubtedly suspects. He saw the name tag." Kuroba gestured to the very thing Shinichi had been thinking about. "And as far as I know, this world is the same in that there are no other young male Kurobas in my age range in Japan, or even the world. It would be a fact even Mouri's father would manage to find."

Shinichi felt himself frown. "What do you think he's going to do?"

"He probably suspects I am a fake. After all, a double from another world is a little hard to come up with all on your own. Which probably means we are going to be very closely watched from now on as he tries to figure out what we're up to." Kuroba glanced at him. "It won't take much to find you're with me, so you'll be staked out too."

"I figured out as much." Something nagged at Shinichi, and he frowned. Right, when they left, the man, the first Kid, had hidden something away...that had been...

Replaying the memory, Shinichi stiffened. "He finger-printed you."

Kuroba glanced at him, a little confused. "He did? Ah, that's fine, I put fingerprint seals on when I went back into the kitchen to get his coffee."

Shinichi hissed, grabbing the thief's arm, who now looked surprised. "Idiot! I know you were shaken up about this but not that bad! Why would you use fingerprint seals!"

Kuroba blinked, seemingly not getting it. "I don't get what's so wrong, Tantei-kun, it means he won't know who I..." Suddenly it dawned on him. Shinichi could almost see the second the thief's confusion turned to horror. "_Shit_."

It was a little odd hearing a voice he was so used to hearing speak perfectly controlled, proper Japanese sweat, but now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. "A fake who suspected being watched by someone like Kid and was worth anything would be using your fingerprints. The fact that they won't be Kuroba Kaito's fingerprints either means you're a terribly-trained fake, or that those were deliberately fake fingerprints, which means...I don't know how he'll take it, but I doubt it will be anything good."

Kuroba, in a rare show of honesty, groaned and buried his head in his hands, muttering. "Such an _amateur _mistake...shouldn't have done it...haven't made a mistake like this for _years._..damn it, and knowing him he would have noticed the plastic sheen on my fingers and known I was using seals..._damn it!_" Shaking his head, the thief sat back up and ran his hands through his hair. "Okay. He's probably going to bug the cafe and our apartment, probably the printing place too. It's what I would do. Which means we can't talk freely there anymore."

Shinichi frowned, mind already thinking rapidly on the situation. "You think so? Could he be trusted here?" It was Kuroba's father, after all...

Kuroba was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "...No. I...it wasn't a stage accident, it was murder. It was only ruled as an accident because there was no evidence of tampering but, it was murder, By them."

Shinichi couldn't help the shiver that ran through him at that. "...So, if it was you instead, here, that means..."

A bitter laugh. "Two things. He was murdered for going against them and trying to find the jewel they wanted before them so he could destroy it. So, one, my death scared him back to them, or two, he's still working against them, but if I'm alive, somehow they staged my death to kidnap me and now_ I _would look like the agent to _him_."

"...Which means he'll believe any information you give him is planted, at best, as you're either an Organization member or a member of law enforcement trying to root him out." Shinichi finished. The first option was horrifying. Kaitou Kid was, always had been brilliant, and Shinichi knew that he couldn't dare to underestimate the first, especially if he was even just under the thumb of the Organization. It felt coldly like Vermouth all over again, only without the guarantee of mercy she liked to reserve for him. He bit at his thumbnail, thinking.

First things first, they had to continue to act as if nothing was wrong. The moment they were actively nervous about this was the moment that they'd probably be struck at, as nervous people were people who were about to run, and Shinichi knew that if he had two promising leads to the Organization he would never let them run.

Kuroba seemed to have come to the same conclusion. "We can't run."

Shinichi nodded. "There's no telling what he'd do to stop us, and besides, landing another living situation like this is too lucky to bargain on." A pause. "We need a place to talk securely. Where?"

"Probably the library. If we switch up the positions enough, it'll be too much of a hassle trying to bug every possible place we might talk privately there, it's a big building with plenty of corners away from windows, and bugs placed on us personally can be cleaned beforehand or used to plant false information."

"You don't think he's bugged us now?" Almost automatically Shinichi looked down at himself, then up at the trees. If the Kid he knew used doves, he'd probably learned it from the first. However, Kuroba shook his head.

"You still need to touch someone to bug them without them noticing. He didn't get me, and was never near you. Don't worry about the doves, he probably didn't have any on him, although the future will be different probably." So that was one trick Shinichi would have to still remember, then.

Kuroba took another breath. "We can't take anything home, either. I can secure the apartment, but I can't guarantee it to be totally secure." Unspoken went the fact that Kuroba was obviously unsure of how well he'd match up to his own predecessor. "Hope you're good at remembering everything we'll be looking up, Tantei-kun."

Shinichi scoffed. "You're not the only one with a good memory." Shaking his head, he frowned as he checked his watch. "...We have to talk about this later, we only have five minutes to get back to work."

He watched in slight worry as Kuroba stiffened up again slightly. "...Will you be okay?"

Kuroba looked at him in some surprise, before bursting into soft, breathy laughter. "...It's okay. Now that I know, I'll...handle it somehow." A beat, and just a smidgen of his normal cheer returned. "Worried, Tantei-kun?"

Shinichi felt that damned blush surface again, he had no idea why the thief kept inspiring it today. "Well, I am stuck with you until we go home. I can't have you freaking out on me, can I?"

Shinichi watched, nonplussed, as Kuroba dissolved into a fit of snickers at that. The small lapse seemed to be from sanity, but it also seemed to do some good as Kuroba straightened, grinning brightly and looking far more real than before. "No, no freaking out. Now, shall we? Ah, let me finish the lunch first."

The mention of the food reminded Shinichi that he hadn't really touched his either, and he quickly chewed down the choice bites from the bentou. Kuroba just wolfed his, in a way oddly reminiscent of Hattori, although nowhere near as much or as fast. Shinichi had never really been able to eat that fast, and was mystified at his fellow gender and age group when they did. Where did they_ put _it?

Lunch finished quickly, they stood, tossing the leftovers into a nearby trashcan and heading back towards the cafe. On the way there, a news broadcast from a television sitting in the window of an electronics store caught Shinichi's attention.

"–and now we turn to Miyano Shiho, one of the top developers of Keaton Electronics, to see if she can give us a glimpse into the future of the Shell operating system. Miss Miyano?"

Shinichi froze in place as he stared at the screen as it cut to a young, severe-looking woman that he'd seen only once, but knew her younger face by heart. Indeed, Miyano Shiho, Haibara's unshrunken identity, sat there calmly, wearing a cold expression that made his mouth dry. He hadn't seen her have that expression in a long time, when her former life finally started receding and she managed to start opening up to him and the other children.

She was also dressed from head to toe in black, aside from a vivid red scarf around her neck, which just make Shinichi feel like she'd died. Haibara _never_ wore anything black larger than a sock. She hated the color, for good reason.

So...here...she was...

The substance of the broadcast finally got through to him. Shell operating system...? Right, that one in the library. Now that he thought about it, Yuusaku hadn't been using it...

Wait. An operating system. In widespread public use like the Windows of home, probably even on computers in places like banks, police, the government...

He barely noticed when Kuroba gently took his arm and started leading him back towards the cafe, mind spinning with the possibilities. Home, the Organization had been everywhere, true, with many hands in technology, but they'd never bothered marketing any of it. They'd always behaved as the perfect criminal organization, hiding in the shadows.

If they had decided on a different infiltration technique...like, say, distributing a personal computer operating system developed by them that had a back door, just a little hole that no one noticed because why would the operating system itself be a security risk...thousands of little fingers, all over, if it was anywhere as widespread as Windows was at home, and from what he had seen, it was even _more_.

And Kaitou Kid, the original, could possibly just another arm of theirs here.

He looked at Kuroba, whose face had moved into a blank, impassive mask, which did nothing to settle his stomach.

This was nothing like home. This was worse.

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><p><p>

Reviews always appreciated.


	13. Chapter 13: Bad Luck Romance

Author Notes: I was going to make this more mystery-like, with solving it and shit, but it evolved more into careful prodding into a confession and Shinichi doing almost nothing. Don't worry, he sulks about it later. Toichi just grabbed the reins from him, heh heh.

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><p><p>

**Chapter Thirteen**  
>Bad Luck Romance<p>

Kaito carefully continued guiding Kudou back towards the cafe as they both tried to deal with the new information.

Kaito had almost missed the significance of it as he had taken a moment to recognize the woman on the screen. It was a little startling to see the little scientist as who she must have been, as despite developing a cure she seemed to prefer to stay small. From what he had gathered he doubted she had had much of a childhood the first time around, and perhaps was capitalizing on the chance at a new life. He figured she must have been part of the Organization considering she was the poison's original creator, but he had long ago decided to let the little lady's actions prove herself, and despite seeming to have a very cutting sense of humor she seemed to genuinely deserve that trust.

Seeing her on that television screen was something completely different, though. A glimpse of who she had been. Kaito couldn't help the shiver at that cold, dispassionate gaze.

It also gave him an entirely different cold feeling. Not only was the Organization here, they seemed to have hit on a new strategy. Creating and publishing the world's most used operating system was insidiously clever, and put them at such an advantage that Kaito was already feeling a familiar tugging sensation, the one that told him to bolt and run to a hideaway. It was rather similar to the feeling he got whenever he ended up caught up in one of Kudou's murder cases in disguise, as Kudou was actively hunting for a suspect, only more cold because Kudou would only arrest him, the Organization would do so much worse, and he didn't even know where to begin fighting something so engrained.

He didn't even know if they _should_.

This wasn't their home, their world. They didn't even really have to worry, as all they had to do was find the Night Sky and hopefully zip back to their home. It would not be the most honorable thing to do, but for all they knew meddling with the timeline here might mess up the world even further in the future.

But to just leave those bastards alone and let them go about their business for their own selfishness...?

Kaito shook his head slightly. He couldn't worry about that now. Unless Kuroba Toichi here really was still working for them, he and Kudou were still blissfully under the Organization's radar. They had to keep it that way for now, no matter what they ended up doing.

Right now, what he really had to worry about was his father.

Toichi probably was still at the cafe waiting for their return so he could observe them, and despite his personal feelings on the matter Kaito was going to have to be at his best, not failing all over the place like he had been so far. He was going to have to pretend to be nothing but a bubbly waiter to the man even if all he really wanted was just to cling and never let go. To beg to be picked up and carried by the man, to feel that sensation that his perfect memory could bring back in nothing but an echo, to be shown tricks that had caused him to babble with excitement even as he asked to be taught how to do them, to just be with the man he missed so _much._..

There was a hesitant touch on his shoulder, and Kaito was pulled out of his thoughts to look at Kudou. He had to blink, however, as the teen was strangely blurry, and his eyes were stinging with a sensation he hadn't felt in years.

Crap, he was _crying_. He hadn't cried since the funeral, hadn't needed to since nothing compared to the pain of that day. But this was all so sudden and his father was _there_ even if it wasn't really his...but still, crying about it? He couldn't afford that.

He scuffed his eyes clear of tears as fast as he could, a quick look around showing that no one besides Kudou had seemed to notice. Good. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his eyes so he wouldn't start again. None of that now! He couldn't disappoint the man now by breaking down every time he thought of him!

The thought of what exactly his father might say to him if he saw him crying over something like this caused his chest to seize, but at the same time made a small grin spring to his face. He'd probably get that mock-scolding look on his face, joking about how silly Kaito looked even as the gentle twinkle in his eyes told him that he was trying to cheer Kaito up. '_Now, now, don't drop your cards, Kaito...think of how disappointed your fans would be if they knew what cards you had! Can't have a magician losing at the very game he dealt, now can we?'_

No, his fans would probably be pretty disappointed. Even the one still clinging with a worried hand to his shoulder, except Kudou would be more disappointed at not being able to find out himself, wouldn't he? The thought of thwarted look he would probably get was enough to restore his cheer and Kaito finally managed to swallow all traces of his tears and smile at the detective, who was still watching him in worry. Strange how much he seemed to be inspiring that in Kudou, lately.

His smile seemed to reassure Kudou a bit, as the hand dropped off his shoulder, but the look in those blue eyes told Kaito that Kudou wasn't entirely convinced he was fine. Which was okay, because Kaito was pretty sure he wasn't, but he was on his way and he could deal with it now. It was easier if he just thought of how silly his father would think him, even if he could never tell the man. He _wanted _to, even if only to the one here in this universe, but since he wasn't sure of his alliances he couldn't.

Maybe if he learned that Toichi was still free of the Organization here. Maybe.

He shook himself a bit all over, taking a breath and hoping that his eyes hadn't gone all red and puffy. That just wouldn't do. He'd only cried for a minute or so, though, so maybe nothing noticeable. Besides, they were at the cafe already, and it was time to go back to work. No time for clean-up.

Managing another smile at Kudou, who still looked worried but did manage the smallest of smiles back, Kaito opened the door to the cafe.

And someone screamed.

For the first moment, Kaito just found himself in a wondering sort of detachment that it had taken this long for them to run into a case. Even his good luck didn't always counter Kudou's corpse magnet tendencies – hell, the second time he'd met Conan there had been a murder – but Kaito knew his ratio of corpses to no corpses was skewed the opposite from the cases Kudou normally chased. Still, whenever a murder did happen while he was around it normally didn't take a whole day.

Then his brain cheerfully reminded him that now wasn't the time to worry about Kudou's uncanny abilities and to, oh, maybe focus on the screaming.

Kudou was already across the cafe and kneeling over a prone shape. Funny how Kaito was slightly faster than the detective in a dead sprint, but once someone screamed it was like the detective gained the ability to teleport.

"She's not dead, but she's been poisoned. Someone call an ambulance and the police." Kudou's 'detective' voice rang out, polite but authoritive with just a thread of steel in it. It was perfectly crafted to cause the headless chickens that were bystanders to calm down and be herded around by the detective like good little sheep. It was one of the hardest things to nail in a Kudou impersonation, mostly because Kaito so rarely had to use it, and also because it was a delicate balance finding enough strength to force others to follow his orders while at the same time still appearing polite and perfectly composed. Too much one way and he just sounded like a bully, too much the other way and he wouldn't have the presence to boss people around. Kudou really was his mother's son to have perfected it so neatly.

Kudou was preforming first aid with the precise actions of someone who knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it. Clearly he already knew what kind of poison he was dealing with.

Kaito, not wanting to get in the way – honestly such things always _bothered_ him on a deep level, he hated blood and everything to do with death and pain – positioned himself by the door. His place offered him a great view of the whole cafe, including the doorways into the kitchen and storage, so he would spot anyone sneaking off, and by the door he could prevent anyone leaving. Since it was poison, he doubted it was an accident. Thankfully this time he knew he didn't have to worry about being considered a suspect, so he could sit back and watch Kudou go about his business, even lend a hand if Kudou needed it. He'd done so before a few times, after all.

Kaito decided to put his observation skills to good use as he flicked his glance over the current occupants. There were about seven customers including the one fallen on the floor, two waiters, the manager, the helping cook, the dishwasher, and the barista. Toichi was still there, of course, in the customer count, and Kaito still had to glance past a little too quickly. It would take time to get used to him being there.

Instead, he focused on the other customers, probably the most likely suspects. The girl who screamed was hovering close by, hands covering her mouth, the picture of genuine distress. A man stood near her, presumably a boyfriend or close relative judging by the comforting arm he had around her shoulder. He too looked disturbed. A woman that looked just slightly older than the two stood to their right, arms crossed as she frowned in worry. An elderly couple stood off to the side, looking quite shocked. Toichi, face set into a slightly grim, worried mask and holding a phone as the one who apparently contacted authorities, rounded out the customer count.

Kaito kept his gaze flicking over the trio closest to the downed woman, figuring one of them the culprit. He couldn't quite see anything out of the ordinary about them though. It was one of those times he wished he had more of a background in deductive reasoning. He was a genius even if he was being modest, and understood logic well enough, but he'd never quite gotten the process of how to collect facts and put them together into a cohesive conclusion. His mind worked more by intuition and while he was certainly a meticulous, logical planner despite how insane certain people claimed him to be, the little jump to connect the dots from evidence to whodunnit always seemed to elude him. It always made sense after Kudou explained the steps, but before he spelled out the tricks his conclusions always seemed like magic to Kaito.

Kaito barely managed to keep a straight face at that last thought. Wouldn't do to start snickering in a crime scene. But really, here he was, the magician, rather awed by Kudou pulling an entirely different sort of magic. Maybe, since he would be living with him, he could ask Kudou for some pointers. It would certainly only help on the times his heists weren't as casualty-free as he liked.

Kaitou Kid, asking the great Detective of the East for detective pointers. Hakuba's brain would probably fry at the thought.

Shaking off the vague humor that his thoughts were causing, Kaito came back to attention as the cavalry arrived. Kudou's first aid had done its job, and the woman was soon being loaded into an ambulance to be taken to the hospital. She was in serious condition, but the paramedics were fairly optimistic about her survival.

The police had arrived with the medics, and Kaito had to suppress a smirk as a familiar rotund shape led the way. Looks like good old Inspector Megure was still in charge of Beika, with officers Satou and Takagi as his familiar shadows.

However this meant he'd better watch Kudou. The teen had improved in acting skill in leaps and bounds since his time as Conan, but he still tended to slip up when he was with people he trusted.

He also had to watch Toichi, who was watching Shinichi sharply as Kudou stood to explain the situation to the police. Not good, who knew what kind of conclusions he'd come to about Kudou.

Now that the police were here, Kaito could abandon his watch post. He slid from the glass-front windows and moved towards Kudou, who was now, apparently, explaining what they'd come back to to a rather-befuddled looking Megure. Probably about how professional Kudou was about the whole thing when the boy didn't have a lick of background here. Kaito resisted the urge to roll his eyes – it was like everything else fell away when Kudou snapped into detective-mode.

He came up behind Kudou just as the other finished the narrative up to the police's arrival. "...and that is the situation, Inspector."

"I see." The man mused, before looking at Kudou with a calculating eye. "You seem to be very calm and knowledgeable about this...Kudou-kun, was it?"

Kudou blinked, and Kaito decided it was time for his debut. He stepped up to Kudou's side smoothly, smiling at the inspector. "He's just planning to be a police detective when he finishes college. Studies incessantly about it."

He got rather bewildered looks from both Megure and Kudou, the latter blinking rapidly as if he'd forgotten Kaito had been with him. Probably had. The inspector recovered from his surprise at Kaito's sudden appearance rather quickly. "Ah, well, a new addition to the force is always welcome. Good luck on your studies, Kudou-kun. And what is your name, young man?"

Kaito swept into his customary bow, smile in place. "Kuroba Kaito at your service!" He managed to keep his smile in place even as an elbow rammed into his ribs. Damn, but Kudou had bony elbows. Ow.

The inspector blinked, before coughing into his hand to regain his composure. "...All right, Kuroba-kun, Kudou-kun...we'll have to ask you what you were doing between twelve-thirty and now. The manager states you were not in the store, as you were on lunch. Correct?"

Kaito let his smile fall, probably not time for cheer, and Toichi was watching them, damn it, he'd almost forgotten. Still, as he knew they were innocent, it was easy enough to tell the truth. "Correct. We left the cafe at about half past noon and went to Beika Park to eat our lunches. We had just been walking in the door, returning from lunch, when the young lady fell over and her companion screamed."

The inspector nodded, officer Takagi had appeared at his elbow sometime and was scribbling in his case notebook. "I understand you two are new around here?"

He was being awfully...suspicious about them. Maybe just procedure, but Kaito didn't know how anyone would normally consider two teens away on lunch to be able to poison a woman a couple of blocks away. He could probably think of a way, and Kudou had probably run into a few cases like that, but that kind of thing didn't happen normally, right? Still, Kaito complied with the investigation. Besides, from the odd look on Kudou's face, he'd probably figured out something and was itching to get the clues in his hands. "Yes sir. We just moved in upstairs yesterday."

Megure 'hmm'ed. "And have you seen the victim anywhere before? Met her?"

"No, never." That obviously eased the inspector's suspicion in them a bit, as poison was obviously premeditated and you usually had to know someone to plan their murder. Nodding to them, Megure moved on to question the other occupants of the cafe.

Kaito watched him for a moment, before turning towards Kudou, keeping his voice low so Toichi wouldn't hear. As the man was the one currently being interrogated, it was best to talk now. "Any suspects, Tantei-kun?"

Kudou blinked at him, before adopting that thinking pose Kaito knew so well. "That poison caused respiratory paralysis. It wasn't one of the ones I normally run into, so it's probably something more mundane that can be turned to a deadly purpose. I just need to question the suspects, which have to be the ones sitting with her, but..."

Kudou got a frustrated look on his face, and Kaito could guess why. Even if he was 'studying to be a detective' like Kaito had claimed, the police weren't likely to let a random civilian investigate. It was probably like the first days of being Conan all over again.

Kaito turned, looking at the group who had been sitting with the woman, waiting their turn to be questioned by the police. The older woman, now that she knew her friend wasn't going to die, seemed to be more relaxed, although still concerned, it seemed. The man had also relaxed, and was trying to cheer up the girl under his arm, who still seemed...strangely upset? Why cry now when you hadn't before...?

Kudou, having followed Kaito's gaze, now narrowed his eyes, obviously putting things together. "...That shirt, it has a florist's logo on it."

Kaito blinked, then looked. It did, indeed, a little gardening shop Kaito remembered that was a few blocks away. "Is that suspicious?"

"Perfect cover. Many common household plants chosen for ornamentation are poisonous, a few can even be lethal, so she would easily be able to get her hands on it and not have to leave a trail buying poison."

"Wouldn't she be found out soon enough, then? After all, the hospital and the police are bound to run tests on everything. Once they find out it was a plant, she'll be the most likely suspect." Kaito questioned, tilting his head to the side.

"They'll find the chemicals the plant has, not necessarily identify it was a plant. It depends on how it was processed, too. And there is a chance one of her companions is the culprit and asked her to get the plant for them, which would frame her and leave them free." Kudou hissed under his breath, frustrated. "If only I could just ask them some questions, but it would be too suspicious...!"

Kaito hummed under his breath, glancing around the scene. The police were now in the middle of questioning the elderly couple, but that probably wouldn't take long. Wrapping an arm up in one of Kudou's, Kaito moved them towards the culprit's group to eavesdrop.

He tried to ignore Toichi doing the same.

The man was still trying to comfort the girl. "...Come on, Kanade, Hanako-san will live, the paramedics said so. You don't need to be so worried! We can go visit her in the hospital later!"

"Th-That's not i-it..." The girl stumbled, then burst into a fresh round of sobs. Kaito frowned just slightly – upset that someone poisoned her friend, or that her plan didn't result in death?

Kaito was debating the best way to worm his way into the group and hopefully get Kudou's answers when a smooth voice – it was still making the hair on the back of his neck stand up, damn it – spoke up. "May I inquire as to the real matter, young lady?"

Toichi came up and stood next to her, arms folded behind his back and the perfect picture of gentle curiosity. It caused Kaito to shudder slightly and fix his gaze on the girl. He knew that look, it was the look Toichi had always used to coax Kaito into confessing if he'd done something wrong or wouldn't tell his parents what was the matter. Even now it made him feel guilty and want to run over and tell Toichi _everything_. God this was just...too much.

Well, if _Kaito_ couldn't resist that look, the girl would fold like a house of cards.

Sure enough, she faltered, looking away from Toichi in a strange way. "...Just...t-that someone w-would do that to K-Kanako-chan..."

Toichi tilted his head in that familiar, questioning pose, and it almost made Kaito groan. He had picked it up from his dad, hadn't he? It was so odd, watching him with eyes now used to examining every detail of body language, and picking out bits and pieces he recognized because he used them. "Oh? She was a nice person?"

Again the strange avoidance of looking at Toichi. Kaito would bet anything that this girl had really done it, and probably for a personal reason. Driven to it, more like, maybe, as her own kindness wouldn't allow her to forgive whatever the victim had done. "...O-Of course."

"I see...it must be very upsetting to know someone could wish harm on such a nice girl, then." Toichi agreed, and Kaito could see her twitch. Well, good to know that he wasn't the only one Toichi could weasel any sort of information out of.

The man with his arm around the girl nodded, face serious. "Yeah...I've known Hanako-san for about a year now, ever since she became friends with my little sister, Kanade, and she never really seemed the type to attract something like this."

The older woman had been watching, and now Kaito could see her give the girl a strangely sympathetic look. However, she seemed to be keeping quiet? An accomplice? Or perhaps she knew about whatever had happened that had driven this Kanade to try to murder someone who was apparently so 'nice'.

The man sighed as he continued. "I just don't know how we're going to tell Hiroki-kun about this...his health is so bad as it is..."

Oh, that had definitely gotten a reaction out of the florist girl. For just a moment, her face screwed up with pain, and she squeezed her arms as it turned to anger, before she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. Kaito would bet his top hat on her motive being related to this 'Hiroki-kun'. Considering the man comforting her seemed to be her older brother, love interest maybe?

"Hiroki-kun?" Kaito piped up himself, keeping a distantly pleasant but curious look on his face. He also noted out of the corner of his eye Satou and Takagi hovering unobtrusively nearby, Takagi with his casebook open and pen scribbling. They were out of sight of the three, but they couldn't definitely hear everything being said, and Kaito had to suppress a grin. He knew he'd always liked those two for a reason.

This time the older woman did speak, turning to Kaito. "Hanako's boyfriend. He's currently in the hospital himself undergoing treatment for his heart. He's always been on the sick side."

"So hearing about this may understandably upset him and affect his health..." Toichi mused with just the right amount of pity. It was enough, apparently, to cause the girl to suddenly rethink something and, apparently, snap. She whirled on her brother, face frantic. "Takashi, no! You can't tell Hiroki-kun! It will only make him worse! She doesn't deserve it anyways!"

The man, Takashi, blinked in surprise at his sister. "Kanade, what...?"

Apparently realizing what she had said, the girl went white as a sheet and turned away from him, wrapping her arms around herself.

Now Satou stepped forward, face intent. "...Do you have anything you want to say to us, miss?"

The girl wasn't really cut out to be a criminal, Kaito could tell. And the words that suddenly poured from her mouth proved Kaito right. She whirled to face Satou, tears once again streaking her face. "She doesn't deserve it, that bitch! Hiroki-kun is so kind, so sweet, but just because he's in the hospital and can't do anything, she thought he was boring! She was cheating on him! Just to get new clothes and sex because Hiroki-kun couldn't give them to her while he was going in for _heart surgery_! How could she do that to him, Hiroki-kun is wonderful, the most perfect person ever, and she did something so cruel, and he didn't even know and was just happily waiting for her...!"

She burst into tears, covering her face. Her older brother looked stricken, and the older woman whose name they still hadn't gotten just looked sad. Satou, for her part, looked surprised at the girl's outburst, but soon settled into business mode. "Does that mean you poisoned her?"

The girl managed to nod between broken sobs. "L-Larkspur...d-delphinium e-extract..."

Satou nodded, and turned to Takagi and made a motion, who immediately pulled out his cellphone. Probably calling the hospital. Inspector Megure, who had been drawn over by the girl's outburst, stepped forward and put his hand on the crying girl's shoulder. "I'll have to ask that you come with us. Attempted murder is a serious crime."

She just nodded, and soon was led out of the cafe in handcuffs. Her brother went to the station with her for more questioning, although it was obvious from his stricken and hurt face that he had never imagined his sister could do anything like that.

The last woman, the older one that Kaito had never quite gotten the name of, just sighed as she turned to Satou. "...I knew about the cheating myself. Always figured some sort of karmic payback would get Hanako for it, but...to think that sweet little girl would do something about that...but I guess love makes you do strange things. She always was in love with that boy..."

She just sighed and shook her head, Satou putting her hand on her shoulder in commiseration. "Love can drive people to do some extreme things. I've seen a lot of cases like this, really, it's rather sad. Relationships almost don't seem worth it at those times."

Kaito watched as Takagi rather hilariously wilted as he heard that. Oh boy, the woman really had no idea about her effect on half of the police force. Still, she was his fan, and he rather liked Takagi. Maybe he could help things along if they were long in this world. Kaito let a little smirk cross his face at the thought.

The woman smiled at Satou. "Sometimes, but there are a lot of points that make it worth it too." Suddenly she looked at Kaito, a twinkle appearing in her eyes. "As I'm sure you two handsome boys know. You're so cute." With that, she turned back to Satou, inquiring about whether or not she was needed at the station, and Kaito was left blinking in surprise at that rather cryptic statement. What?

He turned to look at Kudou, as, he could only assume, she had meant him as well. Kudou just gave him a befuddled look in return. So he didn't understand either, great. What was it with women and being cryptic?

Kaito sighed, deciding that since the so-called excitement was over, it was probably time to head to the manager and see when the cafe was re-opening for business. He took a step, but was jerked back a bit. Right, still had his arm around Kudou's, had forgotten that in the whole 'unearth the culprit' bit.

Suddenly what the woman said snapped into place as Kaito stared at his arm. Had she meant him and Kudou as a couple...? Well, maybe it looked that way, what with their arms like this, but...it wasn't like he and the detective acted all that close. Certainly not enough for a stranger to tell. And while he could now admit that Kudou was most likely his friend, and a close one at that, especially since he now knew Kaito's identity, that certainly didn't make them act like a couple. So why...?

Kaito frowned slightly to himself as he extracted his arm, earning a puzzled glance from Kudou. He just shook his head, making the detective blink but apparently drop the unspoken question. It was just a misinterpretation, that's all. Kaito just was naturally physical, he probably would have dragged Hakuba over in the same way...wait, no, _ugh, touching Hakuba_. But he definitely would have done the same to, say, his mother, or Aoko. He just touched people, it was something he did, and now that Kudou was in his little circle of friends and he no longer had to be Kid around him, he would touch him too. Had been touching him. It was just something he _did_.

So why was it bothering him?

Shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts – it was just a _misunderstanding_, why did he _care_? – Kaito straightened his back. Time to find the manager...

Before he could make his way to the man, though, someone stepped into his path, and Kaito had to keep himself from groaning. Or bolting and hiding behind Kudou, because damn it there was that look again that made him want to tell _everything_.

Because standing in front of him, wearing The Look, was Toichi.

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><p><p>

Reviews always appreciated.


	14. Chapter 14: Match The Stakes

Author Notes: Not entirely happy with how little dialog is really in this, but next chapter should make up for it. Ooo, plot is moving! Yay!

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><p><p>

**Chapter Fourteen**

Match The Stakes

Shinichi stiffened as the man, Kuroba Toichi, stepped in front of them.

He felt more than saw Kuroba go stiff as a board next to him, and without really thinking about it stepped slightly in front of him. Considering the thief had been reduced to tears earlier about the man – Shinichi was fairly certain that was what the little bout of startling tears from Kuroba in the street earlier had been about – Shinichi should handle this.

Besides, growing up with one Kudou Yuusaku had given him a sort of immunity to gently-prying questions. He was fairly sure the man always knew he was lying, but Shinichi had long ago learned to never fold in front of it. Hilariously his mother had a better chance of getting things out of him as she had a bad habit of threatening crippling mortification on him if he didn't answer. Always the _pictures_...

The man was studying them carefully, and Shinichi kept an impassive face on, straightening slightly. Time for the gauntlet. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Ah..." Just the slightest flicker of eyes over his shoulder. He wanted to question Kuroba clearly, but like hell Shinichi was letting that happen. "You are new here, yes? I'm here at least once a week, so I was just curious about the new upstairs tenants. I'm Shirobane Ichirou."

Shirobane? That was almost hilariously uncreative considering the man's real last name. Why was he going under an alias anyways...? "Kudou Shinichi." He replied smoothly, knowing there was no use in hiding it, anyone else in the cafe could tell him that anyways. He couldn't help how much it sounded like an alias here, though, damn his father for using his name as a character! "We just moved from...Sapporo. Pleasure to meet you."

"You as well." Another barely-there flicker. "How are you and your companion finding Tokyo...?"

"Very well, thank you. It is unfortunate that our original lodging fell through, but we happened to meet Mouri-san and she was kind enough to offer us the apartment. As it came with an employment deal attached, we gladly accepted as it solved two problems in one." Shinichi glanced around the manager, but the man was still busy talking to one of the officers who were staying behind for clean-up. Damn. He wasn't sure how long he could keep Kuroba out of the line of fire, eventually he was going to ask the thief directly and it would be too odd for Shinichi to answer instead. Hopefully Kuroba composed himself by then. Best to keep the man talking then, maybe Shinichi could turn the tables a bit... "What first brought you to this cafe, Shirobane-san? Do you live close by?"

"Actually no, I live in another ward. However, a close friend lives in Beika, and I came across this lovely shop during a visit once, and now drop by whenever I am in the neighborhood." Toichi replied smoothly. His attention shifted then, and Shinichi tensed again. The next question was going to be directed at Kuroba, he knew. "And you, young man? I don't believe I caught your full name when you served me my coffee."

Sure enough... Shinichi sucked in a breath, looking at Kuroba out of the corner of his eye. Kuroba had retreated under a pleasantly impassive expression, with a smile that could mean anything. It perhaps took him a beat longer than necessary to answer. "...Kuroba Kaito at your service. So sorry for running off while still your waiter, but Shinichi here insisted it was time for lunch."

Shinichi forced down the automatic twitch when Kuroba used his first name. Why...? Ah, they did supposedly move all the way to Tokyo from Hokkaido together, it would look a little weird to still be on a last name basis but be willing to move so far away together. Well, he'd best get used to it, then, and call the thief the same. Maybe if he used it out of the blue he'd get the thief to twitch, heh.

_Something_ seemed to...shutter off in Toichi when Kuroba said his name, and Shinichi knew the man was now getting all sorts of nasty theories, probably. Thankfully they had met the man while he was using an alias and thus couldn't really grill Kuroba on why he was using the name of his dead son. Ugh, if only they knew if he was working for the Organization or not! They had such a potential ally in front of them, but he was equally a deadly enemy, and this whole situation was just screwed up. And he could only guess at how Kuroba was feeling, his _father_ was standing in front of him, a father that had died ten years ago for him, and he had to treat him like a threat.

He maybe was going to wrangle some cake out of the manager for dinner tonight, Kuroba would need it.

"Ah, I had wondered..." Toichi mused, shifting his weight just slightly. Shinichi's eyes flickered over to the manager again, hurry up! By some miracle the gods listened to Shinichi's pleas for once, and just as Toichi seemed to be preparing for some armor-piercing question no doubt, the officer stepped away from the manager. An opening, time to take it!

Pasting his best coldly polite smile on his face – copied shamelessly from Kudou Yukiko when she was in one of her snits – Shinichi grabbed Kuroba's upper arm. "As nice as it has been chatting with you, Shirobane-san, it seems the manager is free and we should discuss the rest of the workday with him, as it was interrupted. Thank you for your words with the young lady, earlier, as well. I'm sure the case would have taken much longer if not for your help. Good day." With a bow, Shinichi started walking away towards the manager, taking Kuroba with him.

"Wait." Toichi's hand darted out to snag Kuroba's arm, and if it were any other situation Shinichi would have laughed at the absolutely flummoxed look Kuroba wore at being caught between a detective and his thief predecessor. As it was it just made Shinichi's lips thin as he pressed them together, Kuroba's arm was _rigid _under his hand. He was pretty sure he could count tendons. "I would love to speak with you two again, perhaps out of business? Kuroba-kun, you do magic tricks, yes? I have a friend who would love to discuss some research with you."

Toichi's other hand pressed something into Kuroba's hand, whose face went oddly blank. "I would be pleased if you could arrange a meeting for us. It was nice meeting you two, Kudou-kun, Kuroba-kun."

With that, Toichi finally, finally let go of Kuroba and moved away, sticking his hands in his pockets and heading for the door of the establishment.

Shinichi let out a breath, then glanced at Kuroba. The odd blank look was still there as the teen looked at whatever was in his hand. Shinichi moved to get a better look.

It was just a white card with a phone number printed neatly on it. Undoubtedly a secure phone to call to arrange this "meeting". But exactly what sort of meeting? More of this beating-around-the-bush interrogation? Flat out threatening? A trap to just kill them?

Shinichi looked up from the innocent-looking piece of card stock to study Kuroba's face. It was as impossible to tell what he was thinking, as always, and Shinichi sighed under his breath.

Reaching up with his free hand, he closed the thief's fingers around the card, earning himself a startled look. Good, that meant he had Kuroba's attention and they could start working around this. "We'll discuss it later. For now, let's get back to work."

He watched carefully as several expressions flickered across Kuroba's face, all too fast to identify but some of them...odd. Finally, after a quick breath, Kuroba flicked his wrist and the card disappeared up his sleeve. "...Right. Back to work."

Nodding more to reassure himself, Shinichi resumed their interrupted walk towards the manager. Make that a lot of cake. Anything to restore the thief's cheer.

It took another hour or so for the cafe to reopen, most of it occupied with cleaning up what had been left laying around when the case happened and calming everyone's nerves. By the time it did it was already three in the afternoon, and the busy crowd of freshly-released students and working businesspeople was enough to drive Shinichi's worries to the back of his mind as he dealt with learning how to make coffee. Strange how something so easy to order had so many variations. As it was, Shinichi barely noticed the time passing until he glanced outside and noticed the sun was almost completely gone. Sure enough, the wall clock read almost six, and soon enough the manager was waving them over.

He gave them a once-over, then smiled. "Well, I'm very glad with you two. Keep up the work you did today and I can say I won't regret this arrangement. Now, I just called Kisaki-san, they'll be over soon with some furniture it seems. I've prepared your dinner, it's in the to-go boxes on the counter next to the dishes. The official arrangement is that I'll deduct rent from your total monthly paychecks. You'll get paid the remainder on Fridays, starting this one. Now, go get ready to receive Kisaki-san and her daughter, you two. Be here same time tomorrow."

Shinichi and Kuroba both nodded, but Shinichi was the one to turn to Kuroba. "Why don't you go ahead, Ku...Kaito? I'll bring up the dinner in a bit, and you have the key anyways."

He didn't get a twitch out of using the thief's first name – sadly, as it made _him _twitch a bit saying it – although he did get an odd questioning look. Shinichi just smiled a bit, waving him off. It would give Kuroba...hmmn, no, probably should use his first name even his thoughts, shouldn't he? It would prevent that stutter. Anyways, it would give Kaito time to fully compose himself and go over the apartment for any...additions.

Thankfully Kaito just smiled and nodded after a moment. "Well then, see you in a few, Shinichi. Good evening, Masutaka-san!" With a cheerful wave, the thief was soon gone and out of the cafe. Shinichi turned back to the manager.

"Masutaka-san...did you pack any dessert tonight?" Shinichi asked, and the man raised an eyebrow. "Not tonight, I usually don't. Did I spoil you the first night?"

Shinichi laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, no, I was just wondering if I could get some for tonight. Kaito is..." Quick, an excuse...ah! "He doesn't like things like murder and cases and things, makes him uncomfortable. Lost a family member to them so he's squeamish, and he's probably a bit shaken about this afternoon, so I was wondering if I could get something, just for tonight? He really adores sweets, so..." There, reasonable, and maybe even a little true, he'd always noticed that Kid always did have a hard time looking directly at victims...

The manager raised the other eyebrow. "...Him? Wouldn't have thought it. Well...as long as you're not trying to weasel into dessert every night..."

Shinichi had to stop himself from chuckling. "No, no, Kaito will be the one trying that, I don't actually care for sweets."

"Well then, I suppose I can let it go this once." With that, the man turned, bustling through the kitchen and loading up a pile of small tarts of various flavors. "There, that should do it...?"

Shinichi took the box the manager proffered, smiling in relief. "Thank you so much. Ah, and if you don't spread it around...? He's kind of sensitive about it..."

"Of course, of course, you young men and your pride." Waving his hand in dismissal at Shinichi, the manager went back to the stove. "Now go and make sure Kuroba-kun isn't welcoming Kisaki-san all by himself."

Bowing slightly in return, Shinichi took the other box with the dinner and made his way out of the cafe and up the stairs. He opened the door to the apartment, and was regaled with the sight of Kaito's legs poking out of the hallway. For a brief moment Shinichi wondered if he should call the cops, but no, Kaito was alive, if the muffled swearing he heard was any indication. Curse his reflexes being hardwired when he saw legs on the floor.

Kaito shuffled backwards and poked his head around the corner. "Ah, hey. Just exterminating. What were you talking about?" It sounded perfectly cheerful and casual, and thankfully the thief did seem a little better. Putting his mind to work seemed to distract him, good to know. He also wondered if he should tell the other that he had a rather large dust bunny clinging to the top of his wild hair. It was rather funny either way.

Shinichi just hefted the boxes. "Exactly what I said, getting dinner." Moving to the kitchen, Shinichi put the boxes in the fridge.

"Good, good. Mind cleaning the bedrooms? I don't want to move our stuff into dusty rooms, and since _someone_ didn't get up earlier I cleaned the bathroom all by myself."

Shinichi rolled his eyes even as he moved to get the cleaning supplies. "There was nothing stopping you from, you know, _waking me up_."

"Without coffee to appease your morning wrath? Yeah I'd rather take cleaning the bathroom over that any day." Kaito snorted, replacing the cover to the vent he'd been digging around in, it seemed. "Speaking of, coffee maker, first luxury purchase?"

"Mmn." With that non-committal sound, Shinichi moved into the bedrooms. He just looked around for a moment. They were just so...bare. Another reminder of how this wasn't home.

He sighed, and started cleaning. Not time for that now, he had to deal with cheering Kaito up, and then deal with Ran and her mother. Ugh. Hopefully since she didn't know him in this world there wouldn't be that..._disdain_, as if he was a puppy that had dragged in something rather disgusting. And then left it on a bed. It wasn't his fault that trouble seemed to just find him, was it?

The bedrooms just required a good dusting and vacuuming, which was accomplished fairly quickly. Kaito popped in a few times to cheerfully inform him of anything he found, disguised in seemingly random chatter. The dust bunny stayed, which remained a source of private amusement for Shinichi. He wondered how long it would take Kaito to notice.

He was finishing vacuuming up the room that had been Ran's back home when the doorbell rang. Turning the vacuum off, Shinichi moved out into the hall. Kaito's voice cheerfully sang out a "Coming!" and Shinichi heard the door open and greetings being exchanged.

Right, time to face not-Ran and the Ice Queen. Steeling his nerves, Shinichi stepped into the living room.

Ran was smiling cheerfully at Kaito, who was enthusiastically chattering away and once again thanking the girl for her generous offer. Standing behind her was Kisaki Eri, looking just like she always did. She was smiling, however, especially as Kaito seemed to be putting extra effort into being charming. How anyone was born with such strong natural charisma Shinichi would never know. Well, as long as Kaito kept most of the attention on himself, Shinichi would be fine. Amusingly Hakuba was also standing behind Ran, probably wrangled into being the hired help again.

He stepped forward the greet them, smiling politely and hoping he didn't get a nervous tinge when he introduced himself to Ran's mother. She was still scary even if she wasn't being judging of him just yet.

It turned out that they had brought over a small amount of furniture, which was waiting downstairs in a truck. A table, two futons, a microwave, and various kitchen appliances were most of it – Shinichi had no doubt that Ran was behind the stocking of the kitchen, as the only person worse at cooking than his mother was Eri – as well as some more little things, like laundry detergent. He saw Kaito grin oddly at that, and decided not to ask about it.

Between him, Kaito, and Hakuba moving the heavy things, and Ran moving the smaller things like hangers and utensils, it took around an hour or so for the truck to be unloaded. The apartment was still bare-looking, but it looked more like a minimalist setting now, instead of just devoid of life.

Then Ran brought up some tea from the cafe, and Shinichi was once again forced to endure small talk with her and Hakuba and now Eri. Really, the woman was exactly the same, if a little...mellower? Perhaps not the right word, but she didn't seem nearly as sharp-tongued as usual. Or maybe that was just because she wasn't always giving him the evil eye anymore. Still, it passed rather pleasantly and Kaito was more than happy to direct the conversation most of the time.

Shinichi watched as the thief gestured to articulate what he was saying, regaling Ran with some trick he'd pulled in school. His cheer didn't seem forced as it had all day, and Shinichi felt himself relax a bit. Good, it seemed he was recovering from today's shocks well enough. Still, he'd keep an eye on him. Being with this version of Ran was hard in it's own right, he couldn't imagine what it would feel like if she had died long ago. Shinichi would just have to do his best to support him, not just to make sure there were no slip-ups that endangered them, but just because seeing Kaito without that cheer seemed _wrong _somehow.

It really did seem like he considered the thief his friend, and Shinichi really did have to just accept it. He had no idea what it was going to change back home, but he'd worry about that when they knew they actually could return home.

If.

The small tea party soon ended, and once again Shinichi got to wish Ran goodbye as she left, a decidedly odd feeling as he was so used to it being the other way around in this apartment. Just another strange thing to get used to.

Now they were free to eat dinner, a soup and salad combo tonight. With the new microwave they could even heat the soup as well, although it was one that had been chosen because it was good either cold or hot.

Kaito lit up at the sight of the dessert, which strangely made Shinichi smile himself. He really was easy to please, and it was nice to see him act so...bubbly about it, too. Mentally patting himself on the back for his good work in cheering up his odd new friend, Shinichi had eaten a few of the fruit tarts himself as they weren't as sweet as the chocolate ones.

Conversation had moved into rambling, casual chatter by this point, Kaito seemingly contented to ramble about something or other and Shinichi was just as happy to let him, responding when he felt need to. It was comfortable, although Shinichi knew they both wanted to discuss the little card Kaito still had hidden away, but couldn't. There was no telling if they managed to clean every bug the first Kaitou Kid had planted. There was so much that needed to be discussed, but couldn't, from the card, to what they were going to do, to that strange little look Kaito had gotten several times today, starting from when that woman had said that nonsensical thing about relationships to them. Shinichi had chalked it up to figuring that they had dating experience due to being "cute", but Kaito seemed...oddly bothered by it. The chances of getting a direct answer were small, but now was not the time to keep secrets from each other. They were a team now, as odd as it felt.

So, Shinichi would just have to wiggle the answer out of Kaito one way or another about those weird looks.

After the talk wound down, there was a run through the bath with both of them – thank god Ran had also brought more towels and even some bedding – and they retired for the night.

Shinichi sighed as he laid down on the futon in the room that had been Kogorou's – it was another odd flashback to Conan and the two years he'd spent sleeping in this room with the man, also on a futon on the floor. He'd chosen this room because it just felt weird to chose the one Ran had. Best friend or not, pseudo-sister or not, it still was _awkward_.

Letting his thoughts about the day and Kaito chase themselves around, Shinichi slowly drifted off.

Tomorrow, they needed to start looking.

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><p><p>

Reviews always appreciated.


	15. Chapter 15: Calculated Weaving

Author Notes: Oh do I have fun planned. So much fun planned. Heh heh heh.

Usual disclaimers and shit apply.

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><p><p>

**Chapter Fifteen**

Calculated Weaving

Kaito's eyes snapped open, bringing him to fully awake in seconds as he didn't recognize the ceiling.

A second passed and Kaito snorted to himself. Waking up to three different ceilings three nights in a row was a bit of a strain on his Kid-honed nerves. But no, he knew where he was and he shouldn't worry about having to wake up to different scenery anymore.

Stretching, Kaito sat up from the futon, glancing around at the bare room. The sun was barely rising, a little after five then. Good, at least he was reverting to his more natural sleep cycle. He never slept later than six anyways, not anymore.

A quick remake of the blankets on the futon, a grab of yesterday's outfit, and Kaito was ready to start the day. He tossed the outfit into the wash, as well as everything else he could, managing to stow the incriminating Kid jacket and pants away in his closet.

He entered Shinichi's room as quietly as possible. Kaito paused, a foot hovering over crossing into the room. Hmmn, first-name basis with a detective. No honorifics, even. Well, he was always unconventional, and now he had a new friend out of the deal. Kaito rather liked the circumstances.

He snuck the rest of the way in. While Kaito was dressed in little more than boxers – he _hated _how pajamas seemed to twist and confine him in bed, even if he worked himself into a cocoon during the night with the sheets – Shinichi was fully dolled out in the pajamas Hakuba had brought over, shirt fully buttoned and all. He, much like yesterday, looked like he hadn't moved an inch since he got into bed, and didn't even twitch at Kaito's presence.

Not that there was a reason for Shinichi to twitch, considering Kaito was quite proud of his ability to erase his presence, thank you very much.

Kaito studied the detective's face as he slept. It was a little odd, as Shinichi was always alert, tense, _controlled_, and that was reflected on his face, as Kaito had never really seen the other's teen's face fully relaxed or impassive or anything, even during his time as Conan. There was always control in his facial expressions, from the piercing gaze he got while deducting to the knowing smirks when he figured it out even to just the quiet intense concentration when he read his mystery novels. Even when he laughed, now that Kaito thought about it, it always was with that little side grin, that tiny sign that he was only laughing because he _wanted_ to, because he was _supposed _to laugh because he found it funny and that was the appropriate reaction to a humorous situation. Kaito wondered when the last time Shinichi truly, spontaneously laughed was. Certainly he'd never seen one in the two years he'd known him.

Now, it was a little strange to be watching that normally ever-controlled face slack, enough that the detective's mouth was open just the slightest as he breathed, the only sign of life. Really, Shinichi redefined "sleep like a rock" because he really seemed to become one while asleep, just not as hard to wake up. But that uncontrolled face was just...odd, and Kaito found himself just studying it for a few minutes. It almost made Shinichi look even a bit more like Kaito, since Kaito normally kept his expressions open and relaxed, and the normally-furrowed eyebrows were in their intended arch. Shinichi really did control his eyes the most, Kaito would bet the first place he got wrinkles was between his eyebrows, they always seemed to be lowered in thought or some other emotion. But also, it was more obvious to pick out the differences in their faces like this, with Shinichi like an impassive mannequin. The slightly more curved jawline, hinting that as he matured he probably wouldn't get the strong jawline his father had. The higher cheek bones, the slightly narrower nose, the eyebrows that curved downwards instead of the upwards Kaito's did, the slightly sharper chin, the darker black of his hair compared to the browner shade Kaito had, the mouth that was not as wide, but lips a little fuller that definitely had to come straight from his mother because it made his mouth almost that perfect little bow shape when pursed in thought or a pout...

Kaito shook himself out of his thoughts when the detective shifted just slightly, voice mumbling something unintelligible. Kaito froze for a moment, but no, Shinichi was still asleep. Straightening out, Kaito grabbed Shinichi's outfit from yesterday, his original purpose in coming here. He left the room, closing the door behind him and a frown finding its way onto his normally-smiling face.

He shook the detergent – Kaito reminded himself to thank Mouri later for solving the problem of only one work-appropriate outfit – into the washer with perhaps more force than necessary and slammed the door shut, just leaning on it for a few minutes as he thought. He wasn't quite sure why he'd ended up staring at Shinichi for five minutes or so, caught up in just studying the detective's face. Admittedly, it was in an expression that Kaito really hadn't had a chance to study up close before, but...

But that wasn't the problem. It wasn't his usual clinical study, of cataloging facial muscle movements and ticks and subtle shapes to better imitate, it was just...looking. Evaluating Shinichi's face as an overall face and not just an unwitting model for prosthetics – not that Kaito needed those for a Shinichi disguise. It was almost as if he was...admiring it. Appreciating it, like how he used to sneak looks at the lines of Aoko's face before those feelings got stepped on and squished like a cockroach.

And Kaito damn well knew why someone looked at someone's face like that.

Groaning, he ran a hand through his hair, sure that it must look like some sort of jungle by now. It was all that stupid lady's fault, yesterday. She said that weird thing, and now he had the idea in his head and his stupid head wouldn't stop thinking about it. Sometimes Kaito really wished he could completely scrub some thoughts from his mind, but no, he remembered and thought through _everything_. It was certainly helpful as Kid, as he could consider all possibilities and follow them through to the end, thus predicting almost every situation for his heists, but it wasn't helping here certainly. Now he couldn't help but think everything through about the thought of him and Shinichi as a couple.

First, the idea was laughable because he was pretty sure Shinichi was as straight as a board. Kaito himself had never put much thought into the matter of himself, mainly because he'd had Aoko and further thought hadn't been needed, but since the thought was just surprising, not disgusting, he supposed he was open to it. Ha ha, hadn't Aoko speculated Kid was gay when Akako let out that girly shriek when she was masquerading as him? Strange how such things came around in little circles.

There was also the fact that he was a thief and Shinichi was a detective. No matter the friendship they had built in this universe, they would have to work through that little hurdle when they got home. Would Shinichi still chase him? Would he just do it for fun? Would he really ever turn Kaito in now that he had all the pieces of Kaitou Kid in his hands? It was impossible to tell. He strongly suspected the detective wouldn't, but Kid's paranoia wasn't easily erased. Hakuba had gotten a single _hair _from his head and look at the mess that got him in. Shinichi had his real identity with confirmation beyond doubt, and even knew who the first Kid was. A telephone book would be all it took to get to his house then.

And even if Shinichi would go for this sort of thing, what the hell would they do with that? Kaito knew how to date girls – well, sort of...kinda...he knew how to be the perfect date to nameless girls, he was a gentleman after all, but his real semi-dates with Aoko probably didn't fit under that label and Kaito was fairly sure that if he dumped glitter on Shinichi on a public date they'd never find his corpse – but, well, Shinichi was a guy. How did you date a guy when you were a guy too? Hell, how did you even bring it up to the other party? 'Hey Shinichi, I've found I think you're kind of attractive, let's date!' Oh yeah, that would go over _so well_.

Growling, Kaito decided this was getting him nowhere and just stomped – well, as much as his naturally-light steps could stomp – into the bathroom for a shower. Hopefully it would improve his mood and get him to stop _thinking_ about this.

After his shower – which was alternately scalding and freezing, because he'd decided to laundry and shower at the same time like an idiot – Kaito went to the kitchen wrapped in his towel after he finished the rest of his morning rituals. He grabbed one of the leftover tarts from last night, leaning against the corner and taking a bite of the sweet, glaring at it as if it had personally offended him. Well, Shinichi had gotten them for Kaito – he was fairly sure that was why Shinichi stayed slightly later last night in the cafe, to surprise him with something sweet – so he supposed it was a part of his problem and he could glare at it too as he chewed grumpily.

What bothered him most was not knowing what to _do_ about it. It wasn't something he could actually bring up to Shinichi, since he'd seen the detective in relation to social relationships, in particular romance, and his lack of talent in those was so sad it wasn't funny. How he got the Mouri girl to ever like him in the first place was a mystery Kaito wasn't sure even Shinichi's beloved Holmes could deduce.

Wait, Mouri. Kaito paused in the middle of another bite of his breakfast. She would probably visit them regularly to check up on them, and she was a regular at Poirot anyways. From what he had observed over the years, she was a calm, steady girl with a good head on her shoulders and an amazingly open mindset. Obviously he couldn't ask for personal dating pointers with Shinichi from this particular Mouri – did he even want them? All he knew at this point was that this "Shinichi as a romantic partner" thing was bugging him, and he apparently did find the detective attractive if the five minutes he'd spent staring at the sleeping teen in a stupid trance said anything – but he could talk to her about sorting out what exactly his feelings were and how to proceed.

He didn't have his mother here, at least not in reach, and she had been the only one he'd ever been able to use as a soundboard to bounce his feelings off of to understand them. His mother had a talent for just understanding him and knowing just what to say to clear up his mind. Obviously Mouri wasn't his mother, but she was a smart girl with a good sense of romance and feet firmly on the earth unlike her flighty Suzuki friend. Talking with her might help to just clear up this...mess.

Having found progress in his problem, Kaito's mood lifted. He always brightened up when the frustration of not being to figure something out lifted, and now that he had one problem sorted, that was a weight off his shoulders. He felt he could proceed through the day with his usual cheer, now.

Of course, this meant that another problem lined up to take the former's place, and that was the little white card with a number and the man who gave it to them. Since it wasn't a frustrating problem, his mood didn't fall, but he did become serious as he contemplated, shoving the last bit of the tart into his mouth and moving to the laundry alcove when he heard the buzzer.

He moved clothes into the dryer as he gave the problem some thought. Obviously he needed to discuss this with Shinichi at the library. Hmm, before or after work? He'd ask for the library hours from the other teen, he was pretty sure Shinichi knew them by heart. After would probably be best though, hmm.

Finishing loading the clothes in the dryer, Kaito shut it and walked out of the laundry room, intent on getting another tart for breakfast when he ran into Shinichi, quite literally. Shinichi stumbled back, and Kaito caught his arm by reflex to stop him from falling over. The bleary teen looked up at Kaito's face, blinking slowly, obviously not processing anything yet. "Nngh...Ka'to?"

Kaito was suddenly aware he was dressed in nothing but a towel, again. He had found this hilarious yesterday, when Shinichi had kicked up a flustered fuss, but now Kaito was acutely aware that he wasn't leaving much to the imagination and was swamped with the rather foreign feeling of too much exposure and shyness and the sudden urge to cover up as much as possible as soon as he could. There was also a tentative thought of what Shinichi would really think about his body, and he squashed that thought down with a vengeance. Later, he was dealing with the misplaced attraction _later_.

Thankfully Shinichi was still pre-caffeine mode and hadn't yet noticed Kaito's state of undress, so Kaito merely switched their positions as fast as he could, sweeping the detective around and pushing him towards the kitchen, summoning up his best cheerful voice. "Go scavenge for breakfast! Our clothes are in the dryer, so take your time to wake up until they're done."

And with that, Kaito moved as fast into his new room as humanly possible, shutting the door behind him and probably leaving a very confused detective standing in the hallway. Scrubbing his face, Kaito groaned as he mentally went through his Poker Face exercises. Man he needed that talk with Mouri _fast_.

Kaito thanked every god he knew for most of the morning for his natural acting skills as Shinichi didn't suspect a thing odd about his companion, the strange behavior having happened before the detective was really awake and Kaito appearing normal – and dressed – afterwards. At least, Kaito hoped so. He was good at reading Shinichi, but there were times when even he was fooled, especially when he was as...distracted as today.

To focus himself on a different problem, Kaito brought up the subject of the card and what they should do, keeping it casual and acting perfectly unsuspicious about it. There was the agreement that at least another day was needed before answering, perhaps even another meeting with the man, which didn't help the rolling feeling in Kaito's stomach any, but it was perhaps for the best.

Then, finally, the subject changed to something Kaito could process. The search.

Shinichi sipped at his glass of water, the only liquid they had in the apartment at the moment. Kaito couldn't wait for Friday, they needed so many _things_. "Hmm...Beika Library's hours are from nine to nine, at least they used to be. After work is the best bet."

Kaito hummed, taking that bit of information in. "How long do you think I'll need to work on my gem report?" He had to research gems, and wasn't he supposed to be in college, after all?

"I would say no more than two or three hours. We can stay until the library closes anyways, I have crime files to look up for mine. But if we find what we need quickly, we shouldn't stay and hog the resources." Shinichi replied, eating a few small bites of leftovers as his breakfast. So, stay as long as possible, but at any information or signs of being watched leave. Kaito nodded slightly to himself, it was a solid plan. He finished off his latest tart with a smile, tucking all his worries away for his happy persona for the day.

"Well, time for work!"

Work was nice, work was normal and boring and Kaito could just distract himself with orders and refills and everything to escape his feelings. Thankfully Toichi didn't come today. Kaito wasn't sure how he would honestly handle it this time, he felt he'd only avoided a catastrophic meltdown because Shinichi had been a wall between him and the man until Kaito managed to gain some resemblance of his normal composure. The thought caused a funny feeling, one Kaito deliberately ignored but gave him a schedule.

Four eventually rolled around, and Kaito took the opportunity to snag one of his breaks and the cafe phone. The manager only knew her mother's number, but that let Kaito get Mouri's cellphone, and soon he was standing as the phone rang, feeling the urge to jiggle his foot. When did he get so jittery?

After an eternity of three rings, a sweet but somewhat distracted voice answered. "Hello?"

"Ah, Mouri-chan! It's Kaito." Kaito chirped, grin spreading onto his face easily and into his voice as well. "Are you free this evening? I was wondering if I could have a chat with you, there's something I need to discuss."

The wording was a little odd, and he could feel the confused pause over the phone as Mouri considered worked it out in her head, but her voice was normal but regretful. "I'm sorry, Kuroba-kun, but Saguru-kun and I are working on one of the Mom's cases right now. It's a long one and it's going to take until late tonight. And since I can't just leave Saguru-kun with all the work...tomorrow, maybe?"

Kaito gave into the leg-jiggling, managing to morph his tone into understanding instead of irritated. _Damn._ Looks like one problem wasn't being solved today at least. "Of course, I understand Mouri-chan. Tomorrow then, if we can."

They exchanged goodbyes and Kaito was soon off his small break and back to attending to the dinner crowd. He'd done his best to appear normal, but sometimes he'd find his eyes drifting over to Shinichi, who was still following a barista around like a duckling, not ready to be by himself yet but apparently being given small orders to test him. Why couldn't he keep his thoughts and eyes away? Sure, he understood that there was attraction there, now, perhaps explaining some of his previous dealings with the detective, but he'd never been like this with _Aoko_. Unless it was a serious crisis, he'd always been able to think around or ignore her when needed unless mops were involved. Why was the fact that it was Shinichi that was bothering him so much?

Kaito took a deep breath in the kitchen as he fetched a slice of cake for a customer. Tomorrow, he'd work out his feelings tomorrow with Mouri.

Work ended fairly quickly after that, almost too quickly for Kaito's tastes, and again they were dismissed with dinner. Now, however, they merely stored it in the fridge and immediately headed for the library.

True to Shinichi's word, they had three hours until it closed. Kaito decided it was high time he started looking into this world's tanzanites while Shinichi read up on current events and history. They secured a table in the far corner, away from prying eyes, and set to work flipping through books and newspapers.

By the tenth gem book he'd thrown aside, Kaito was getting frustrated and worried. No mention of any large tanzanite named the Night Sky anywhere. It could be under a different name, it could be an entirely different gem to set them back, it may not even _exist. _As he stared at yet another fruitless listing of tanzanites with the carat sizes he needed, Kaito let a small part of himself just wonder why. Why did that jewel do this to them? Were they supposed to accomplish something here? Had it been a balancing magic or something and sucked them into a world where they were void? Was it just because that's what the gem did?

So many whys and maybes and Kaito had no idea how to work any of this out.

Well, this was a search for a jewel that may not exist. Kaito knew how that worked.

Grimly he dragged a sheet of paper snatched from a printer and began writing down the names and locations of every tanzanite the size he needed. If they were going to do this the long way, Kaito was going to have to stock up on a lot more than fresh roses.

Shinichi hadn't made much of a sound during Kaito's little bout with depression, instead engrossed in going through newspaper, crime reports, anything that seemed to relate to the Keaton Electronics mentioned in that television broadcast. His left hand flipped pages, right scrawling notes in a scratchy, barely intelligible mess, sometimes even in English. Sometimes he'd pause and read a page that caught his attention, but mostly he filled up several sheets of paper with these scrawls.

It was like this the librarian found them.

"Are you boys doing okay?" She chirped, and Kaito turned his attention to her. Old, hunched over, face wrinkly and kind. Maybe in her seventies? The odd thing that jumped out at Kaito was the extremely pale blue eyes. Blue was rare enough in Japan, and that shade...There was something else niggling Kaito too, saying something was off, but _what was it_...

"We're doing fine, thank you." Shinichi replied automatically, flipping to a large spread about the Shell operating system that this world's Organization used for its dirty work. The librarian looked at the spread, and Kaito could almost see something switching, like when he dropped one of his own disguises. Was this his father?

The "librarian" straightened up, eying them, and then a smirk came onto her face. It wasn't like Kid's smirk, this was more dangerous, but yet, Kaito didn't feel threatened. But still something was _off._..

"My, my, boys, if you're looking to chase off crows, you shouldn't be doing it where they can see you. They'll always remember your face, you know."

Kaito stared, that wasn't the voice the librarian had originally spoken with. He didn't recognize it, but it was a woman, low and sultry and smooth, arrogant with a hint of both deep amusement and a sadness Kaito couldn't explain. The voice was unfamiliar to him.

But it sure seemed familiar to Shinichi.

The detective's head whipped around so fast Kaito was almost sure he broke it. Kaito started to really worry as he watched the detective's face grow bone-pale, gripping the pen with white knuckles as he stared at the "librarian" in _real _fear. Kaito hadn't been aware that the detective truly feared anything, but that look was enough to make Kaito start wanting to be scared too.

Shinichi took a deep breath, eyes fixated on the person now smirking down at them both, his voice breathing out a single word that had no meaning to Kaito, but he felt he was about to learn.

"_Vermouth._"

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><p><p>

Reviews always appreciated.


	16. Chapter 16: Birdcage

Author's Notes: I am horrendously sorry for this taking so long! I never planned for a month hiatus, but this chapter just would Not. Be. Written. Urgh. As it is, it's too short and Vermouth is wildly teetering out of character probably, but it's getting done what I wanted it to. Urgh, I _hate_ writing Vermouth. I apologize for this chapter. Sincerely. The next one will be so much better, oh god.

Also, mwahahahahahaha!

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**Chapter Sixteen**

Birdcage

Shinichi knew the instant her name left his mouth and her eyes narrowed that it was the wrong thing to say. He snapped his mouth shut, mind whirling. He'd just said it on autopilot, so used to how she played with him back home, that for that second he'd forgotten just why they were here in this library in the first place. This wasn't the Vermouth he knew, the one that seemed to value her friendship with his mother and treat him like some sort of favored nephew. This Vermouth did not know who he was, and now he was a threat since he'd used her code name out loud. Shit.

It didn't help that he'd had a few nightmares of something like this situation happening before this whole other world mess. Vermouth was one of the few leading members of the Organization that hadn't been caught in the FBI's net when the crackdown happened – she'd vanished like mist and hadn't been seen since the takedown, although several things had obviously been orchestrated by her to help the law enforcement, for whatever reason. Still, she was a horrifically dangerous woman, and she was one of the ones Shinichi still looked over his shoulder for. He'd often compared her to a far more deadly Kid in his mind, only now she was even more enigmatic to him, since he was living with the thief and the mystery was dissolving around Kid as he got to know Kaito. Kid wasn't mysterious anymore, just confusing and unpredictable. Vermouth was just so much _more_, and now he'd slipped up and she might possibly decide to eliminate them now. He'd never had to really fight the woman before, and he had no idea what tricks she had up her sleeves.

However, the silence simply dragged on for a moment as she studied them carefully. No pulling out of guns or black-clad goons stepping out from behind bookshelves. Perhaps she was unprepared? No weapons? No, this was Vermouth, she was _always _armed, but she wasn't taking the advantage like he thought she would, like she _usually_ did.

Instead, she suddenly crossed her arms, looking down on them in silence for a moment longer, before the smirk that she never seemed to be without quirked back up again. "...Well now. It seems that despite changing my plumage, some labels still come back to me. I'll have to work on that. Why don't you two be good boys and follow me now? It seems there are things to talk about."

With that, she turned and started walking away, flowing back into the guise of the little old librarian easily, an obvious signal to follow her. That definitely hadn't been a question, either. Unable to think of what else to do, and not really wanting to really make himself an enemy of this strange-acting Vermouth – change her plumage? What did she mean by that? Her disguise...? – Shinichi slowly stood up, folding the papers he'd scribbled on up and tucking them into a pocket.

A soft grating sound of a chair being pushed back told him that Kaito seemed to be taking his lead for now. Well, it made sense, Shinichi obviously knew Vermouth and what she was capable of – or at least, had a good idea based on his relations with the one back home. He just hoped that following the same leads wouldn't be a huge mistake here. The last thing he needed was for Vermouth to think the thief a grand new toy. She'd known of him back home, and being one of the students under the former Kid, Shinichi was rather doubtful that she _wouldn't _have known just who the phantom thief really was. At the very least, she'd always very carefully and very obviously left the thief alone even when there was a chance of overlap, even when Kid got directly involved with the takedown of the Organization, and that was very telling. He wondered if anything truly ever escaped her notice.

The walk through the library was eerie and surreal. Being near eight at night, there wasn't anybody else in the building, and the atmosphere of following Vermouth disguised as a little old lady through the maze of shelves and harsh florescent lighting was like a horror movie. Shinichi just hoped that it didn't decide to really become one like his life so often did.

She lead them to a staff break room, slipping inside ahead of them. Shinichi had hesitated a fraction of a second when he lost sight of her – for all he knew, she had just gone out of sight to draw a gun and shoot him when he entered the door – but he continued inside despite his paranoia. It paid off this time, as Vermouth had not shot him or pulled a gun or anything, instead fiddling with something in the corner, cellphone also out and texting something. When they came in she sent the text she was composing and snapped the phone shut, turning and smirking at them.

"Well then, shall we flip a coin?"

Shinichi hesitated for a long moment, the tension in the room pressing against his skin, before he slowly slid into a chair at one of the tables in the room. Well, perhaps he should start with a question. "Are you planning to kill us?"

He didn't expect a direct answer, but surprisingly got one as Vermouth turned to face them fully. "Not unless you're planning to try on me first, boy. Are _you _planning to kill _me_?"

He blinked stupidly for a moment, thrown off-balance. Why would he kill anyone? He managed a response. "N-No, I'm not killing anyone. Why would I kill you?"

"There are a lot of people who would like me disposed, I can assure you. But that answers another of my questions, so I suppose I'll give you a free question, ask away." At this, Vermouth peeled off her mask, revealing the coldly beautiful face and long blonde hair he knew well. He felt Kaito twitch just slightly off to his side, where the other teen had taken residence, obviously not comfortable enough to sit yet. The now-revealed woman nonchalantly leaned against the wall, lighting a cigarette. Somehow, Shinichi felt a bit relieved. Even if she was acting oddly, it still was the Vermouth he knew. A question, then...?

"...Why did you bring us here, then?" Shinichi asked after some thought. He watched Vermouth carefully as she blew out a long puff of smoke after her first drag. She closed her eyes for a moment, apparently composing her answer, although the small smile on her face was as mysterious as always.

"Well, I could just say you were interesting little birds, but I did promise you an answer, so I will give it directly. I was just taking precautions. When you're a runaway like me, it's just good business to treat everyone like they're out to kill you."

Shinichi was momentarily distracted by her wording – why did she call them birds? Knowing Vermouth, there was a reason – before catching up to the second part of the sentence. "A runaway?"

She tsked at him, wagging one finger in a gesture he knew well. "Now, now, I gave you one free question, you need to answer one of mine now. What are two fledglings like you looking up Keaton Electronics? A little odd for a school project, isn't it?"

Shinichi watched the woman for a moment, debating his answer. At least she wasn't questioning Kaito. While he had no doubt that the thief could wiggle his way out of any question, without any knowledge of Vermouth he just might implicate worse things, and his wiggly answers would probably make her even more suspicious. Direct honesty usually amused Vermouth and got her to respond, as long as you were careful what exactly you were honest about.

"...They might be an obstacle to a project of ours." He finally replied. "If they get interested, it would make things difficult." Perfectly true, but nothing specific. That would work for now. And it really would be difficult if this world's Organization caught onto him and Kaito before they could get their hands on the Night Sky and go home.

"And yet you researched them in a public library. Bold, aren't you?" She chuckled, taking another drag from her cigarette. "Well, they certainly do make things difficult. It's a specialty, perhaps."

There was a buzzing noise, and Vermouth flipped her cellphone back out, smirking at whatever it said. After sending a short reply, she transferred that smirk to them. "Well, it seems some friends of mine have arrived. This might be a long talk, so I think I'll make some coffee."

Shinichi stiffened in his seat, and he could feel Kaito doing the same. "Friends?" He managed in what he hoped was a civil tone. "I wasn't aware we were going to be joined by anybody." Shit, that must have been what she was texting about earlier.

"Don't get your feathers ruffled, I promise they're perfect gentlemen. They're very thrilled to meet you, it seems you peaked their interest earlier and wanted me to...break the ice, as it were. And don't get so fussy, if I wanted you dead you would be by now."

Well yes, Shinichi knew that, he'd had that freakout in the hall, although he knew Vermouth did sometimes have a bad habit of playing with her prey like a mouse. That however wasn't important anymore, what was was that apparently Vermouth's 'friends' knew about them. Who in the world could possibly be interested in Shinichi and Kaito and be in Vermouth's ring of acquaintances...?

Kaito had turned into a frozen replica of himself, and it took Shinichi a depressing few seconds for the thought that had Kaito doing his best impression of a park statue to occur to him as well. He, unfortunately, had his suspicions confirmed when the door opened behind them and a smooth voice floated in. He'd only heard it for the first time yesterday, but he had a feeling it was now a voice he'd always recognize. "Well, I see you've been busy entertaining our guests, Sharon. I have to thank you for this little get-together, there are so many things to catch up on."

_Shit_. Shinichi slowly turned around, mouth drying out when he saw who was behind them.

Kuroba Toichi, of course, stood there – he really should have expected Vermouth and Kid to be aligned in this universe, his luck was just like that – door handle still in hand as he stood there studying them with a small smile that did not reach his eyes. What really made Shinichi want to run really far away or at least find a hole to hide in until he died was who was standing behind him.

One Kudou Yuusaku stood there, cellphone in hand, with a perfectly unreadable face on that Shinichi recognized far too well as his father's game face.

_Double shit_. They were screwed.

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Reviews always appreciated.


	17. Chapter 17: Fold

Author's Note: Holy shit, I am sorry for the wait on this one. I have no real excuse except that I ended up watching FMA:Brotherhood and fangirling that for like a month instead of writing this like I was supposed to. FMA is one of my old fandoms, almost as old as DC/MK, and I do deeply love it. Especially Roy. Anyways, the newness of that wore off so I've finally resumed what I should be doing. It helped that I read through the Mystery Train casefiles the other day, heh. Yay for plot!

Anyways, enjoy! I'm also working on another side-shot story to celebrate 200 reviews. Thank you so much! Look for it soon in Stream!

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**Chapter Seventeen**

Fold

Kaito was wishing more than anything right now that they had done something differently today, that anything would have gone differently. Mouri being free, deciding to research tomorrow, _something_. Anything that would get them out of the situation they were in.

Shinichi sat beside him, fists clenched into the fabric of his pants as his eyes flickered from one new arrival to the other, obviously trying to think of a way to get out of this mess. Kaito hoped he found one, because he himself was fresh out of ideas.

Toichi and Yuusaku were blocking the doorway, the only entrance. The air vents weren't big enough to fit a cat, much less two male teenagers. And that coldly beautiful woman, Vermouth, still stood off to the side, watching them with apparent amusement. Judging by her codename and Shinichi's cautious approach to the woman, he decided to assume she was armed and probably not above shooting them if they tried a break for it. Never matter that he had no idea if any of the tricks he had supplies for would distract Toichi and Yuusaku long enough from the doorway to escape. The _only_ doorway. This had been planned. Shit.

Slowly, Kaito forced himself to finally sit down in a chair, movements rather robotic as his body was locked with tension. Normally he could think his way out of any situation, but damn it, the only way out was being blocked by _Kuroba Toichi_, and his presence was enough to make him feel nine years old all over again. His emotions still whirled at the sight of the man, managing to stir up the panic his Poker Face normally kept locked away, and all he could do was stare at the man as his mind spun in meaningless circles.

Kaito really, really hoped Shinichi could think of something. Damn it, this was making him _useless_.

His taking a seat must have been some sort of signal, because the pair in the doorway relaxed just a fraction, as if they'd been tensed and prepared to prevent an escape. Ha, fat chance, Kaito probably couldn't escape from his own house right now if he was stuck in it. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Toichi, some part of him hungrily taking in that face _alive._

"Well, now that we're all here, let's have a chat, shall we?" Toichi's voice was genial, but there was no mistaking the steel underneath it, nor the intense gaze as he stared right back at Kaito. Shit shit shit. There was no mistaking the fact that his father thought him an imposter, and was rightfully angry at the fact. If back home, someone approached him claiming to be his dead father, Kaito wouldn't have bothered waiting for him to finish the sentence before punching him. And what else could he say? That they were from another world? Again, had this situation been reversed, the only reason Kaito would have stopped laughing was to punch them again.

This was _balls_.

"May I inquire as to the nature of this chat?" Shinichi, beautifully stiff and formal Shinichi, replied. Thank god one of them still had a voice, Kaito was close to the "hysterical laughter and/or tears" stage again.

"We were rather hoping to learn the nature of your visit here. As well as why you are impersonating a dead person to do so." Yuusaku replied this time, glancing at Kaito as he said the last part. "As well as impersonating a relative I do not have." That was directed at Shinichi, who was still sitting straight and stiff, face an impersonal mask.

Shinichi remained silent for a moment, gaze flickering over the occupants of the room. It lingered on Kaito for a few moments, as if gauging his well-being. Kaito hoped his feelings weren't as written on his face as he felt they were. If Toichi directed anything at Kaito right now, be it a pointed question or a gun, Kaito was going to have a very unimpressive freak out.

Finally Shinichi looked back at Yuusaku. "...I was unaware that we were supposed to be dead, or non-existent. These were the names given to us."

There seemed to be a collective blink of surprise around the room, including Kaito. It even distracted him from his rising panic as he tried to struggle through the detective's thought process. What was he saying? These were their real names, and what Shinichi had said was true from their point of view, but to the others it would mean...that they really were undercover agents?

Not of the Organization, no. Understanding hit Kaito in a flash. Of course, it was obvious now. After all, hadn't hidden law enforcement agents from America helped in the takedown? Shinichi had been close to them. Shinichi was gambling on the fact that all that talk of changing plumage from the Vermouth-woman earlier meant she wasn't part of the Organization right now, so it was highly possible that neither were the two men in front of them.

Kaito tried not to give into the flood of relief that brought. For all he knew, his reasoning was wrong. His father still could be an Organization member. Maybe this was all an elaborate ruse and they'd be shot dead after they divulged all the information they knew.

He couldn't stop himself from hoping, though.

"...I see. It seems your sources need a little work, however." Toichi's voice was mild, but Kaito would bet anything that he wanted to go find whoever had thought that using his dead son's identity would be a good idea. Thankfully the surprise and flash of understanding had pushed his panic back into a manageable bubble, and he straightened slightly, Poker Face slipping back effortlessly. Time to stop being useless. He had only been passingly aware of Shinichi's entourage of FBI agents while he was Conan, so he'd have to leave the details up to him, but he could act along. The ruse wouldn't last long – his real fingerprints or a DNA test or something would blow it out of the water, but they could deal with that when it came. What was important right now was figuring out what they wanted with him and Shinichi, and hopefully making it out of this without making any enemies.

"That's something you'll have to take up with them, I'm afraid. It's just what we were given, and you'll have to forgive us if we can't exactly tell you who." Kaito spread his hands lazily, slumping in his seat and projecting an air of relaxed calm.

Since these were the first words he'd spoken for a long while, he was briefly the center of attention, and he hoped he was pulling off the impression he wanted. He rather felt like he'd been run through an emotional washing machine and now strung out to dry, but the others couldn't know that.

Shinichi's gaze lingered on him the longest, probably trying to gauge how okay Kaito really was, and the thought made him a feel a little warm but also brought up a whole new type of anxiety, and he forced down the urge to smooth down his shirt or something. Later, later, this was no place for those sorts of feelings! The last thing he needed was to give the others in the room the leverage about his feelings. He may be hoping that they were on the "good" side of things, but that didn't put them on the same side yet, and his instincts told him that Vermouth especially would have no qualms about using anything to keep her and her allies safe. And of course there was the mortification that Shinichi might find out, but he was hoping that the detective's usual complete obliviousness to anything romantic would save him there.

Stupid attraction. He really wished Mouri had been free tonight. It would have gotten them out of this _and_ helped him deal with these distracting feelings.

There was a clatter, and Kaito's attention was abruptly drawn back to the present – damn distracting attraction! – as Vermouth set the coffee pot and a ring of mugs on the table. "Well then, you'll just have to answer what you know for us. Coffee?"

Shinichi watched her warily for a long moment, before graciously accepting a mug. They were unfilled, probably to help ease tension about the coffee itself being safe since they would all be drinking from the same pot, but there was always the chance of the mugs themselves being poisoned. Or the spoons. Or hell, even the creamer and sugar packets. Shinichi probably had a catalog running in his mind of all the ways they could be poisoned by the seemingly-harmless beverage and utensils.

However, Vermouth and Toichi and Yuusaku did need answers, so it was best to bank on that fact. Dead informants were silent informants, after all, so Kaito also took a mug for himself, filling it with sugar and creamer as Shinichi was pouring coffee.

Toichi and Yuusaku joined them in sitting around the table, and if it weren't for the serious, grim silence as they all served themselves, it would have been almost normal, like a meeting of old friends. Kaito stirred his coffee as he observed his tablemates – Shinichi to his left and giving a disgruntled look to the eight sugar packets and two creamers that Kaito had added to his cup, the three adults across the table with Toichi in the middle, Vermouth to his right and Yuusaku to his left. Kaito was cataloging their coffee preferences to do something with his mind and distract himself – two sugars for Vermouth, a single creamer for Toichi, Yuusaku black like his son – when Vermouth sat up straighter, smirk flicking across her face.

"So, boys, I'm sure I speak for my friends here when I say that I'm very curious about what sort of reason there is for...such identities." The woman asked them casually, but a single arched eyebrow caught Kaito's attention, and as the woman lifted his spoon out of her coffee she rapped it against the edge. It would have been a simple action, knocking off any stray drops before she sat it down, but it was too deliberate.

Kaito had no idea what she meant by it, but Toichi and Yuusaku were suddenly watching them more closely, and he felt Shinichi sit up slightly to his left. A code, then, one that everyone but Kaito knew. He pulled a mental face at being left out, but tried to figure it out. Organization code...? Law enforcement? Rapping...probably a play on the words for that...?

No matter what it meant, obviously it had given Shinichi an idea. Those blue eyes sparked with sudden focus, and Kaito took a cautious sip of his coffee to refocus his attention elsewhere. Fuck, he even felt the beginnings of a blush, and he forced that down ruthlessly. How could he concentrate when Shinichi was focused like that, eyes almost unnaturally blue and keen mind honed to a razor point? Did he even know how it made him look? Kaito shook himself mentally. _No distractions!_

The detective inclined his head just the slightest bit to whatever Vermouth had signaled. "...Like I said earlier, we have a project in mind. It requires certain...talents. My colleague is in possession of those talents, as I am sure you are well aware of, _Shirobane-san_." The inflection Shinichi put on the name made it obvious he knew it was fake, and Kaito had to spare a moment of admiration. Many thought Shinichi to be a bad actor, but they never really saw him handle himself in these situations. Kaito excelled in playing roles and misdirection, Shinichi excelled in rigging conversations and interrogations to go exactly where he wanted them to go. Of course, it wasn't much use against their current audience, but even Kaito had trouble sometimes when forced into these sorts of talking confrontations with the detective. Shinichi knew how to get people to say what he wanted, how to read what they weren't saying, and Kaito couldn't help but remember the engine room of the Queen Elizabeth, how a seven-year-old had forced Kaito into a proverbial verbal corner with ease until the only thing he could do was pull something outlandish and hoped it worked. He still counted himself lucky that Shinichi was easily flustered.

It was obvious Toichi hadn't been all that prepared for this sort of resistance, if the single arched eyebrow was any indication, but that was the only outward sign of it as the man took a sip of coffee before replying. "...Well, I will admit curiosity at a fellow magician's tricks. However, I am not sure what sort of...project would require magic tricks with crows."

Kaito held back a snort, instead just taking another drink of coffee as Shinichi replied. "That is not the only talent. The word was plural, after all. It requires being flashy as well, with an ability to...disappear. And a taste for shiny things."

Shinichi took a drink of his own then, acting oblivious to the tension that swept through the three across the table that wasn't visible in the way they held themselves but was there all the same. He'd just made it glaringly obvious he was aware that Kaitou Kid was sitting across from him. Of course, he'd also just implicated that Kaito's job was to be a Kid imposter, and he hid his grimace into more coffee. He wasn't some cheap knock-off! Well...okay maybe he was Toichi's imitator, but! He was the man's son, he was officially endorsed! ...Sort of.

Silence reigned for a moment as the adults debated how to respond. This was obviously not in their list of planned scenarios. Kaito debated with himself for a moment. If they claimed they were going after Pandora, Toichi would either do his best to keep them from it or help them, depending on how well they argued, honestly. But was that really the way to go about it? Sure, they could look into gems then, but going after gems with legends of silver stars was not the same as one that glowed red under the full moon. A discrepancy would show up somewhere, and they might get stuck hunting jewels that had no connection to the Night Sky at all. But saying they were looking for a gem to travel worlds wasn't the best thing either...unless it was? Kaito blinked. Maybe if they were in the same boat as Toichi, but a different gem...? It would, at the least, make their target theirs and thus Toichi could not raise any moral quibbles.

Kaito set his coffee down, bringing up a serious face. "Pandora is not the only gem with unsavory possibilities. There is another that is rumored to...look into alternate dimensions. We are here to...prevent that possibility." He ignored the side glance from Shinichi, who was probably the only one here who hadn't heard of the legendary gem. He knew Kaito was looking for a special gem, he'd put it together. Instead Kaito forced himself to focus on Toichi, even if looking at the man caused his chest to seize. The older thief's face had gone carefully blank at the mention of the gem, and Kaito felt victory at his fingertips. The man would at least think through the implications before hindering them now.

Unfortunately their little winning streak was ended, by the third member of the adults.

"Preventing the crows from crossing over...or trying to find a way home?" Kudou Yuusaku's soft voice spoke up, and both Kaito and Shinichi whipped around to stare at him. Kaito mentally cursed himself for the break in the facade, but honestly hearing that was the last thing he'd ever expected. Hell, he had been thinking earlier in panic that it would be the thing they'd least believe!

Kaito was slightly mollified that at least the writer's companions were as put out by the sudden exclamation as they were. Both Vermouth and Toichi were looking at Yuusaku with unreadable expressions, obviously uninformed of the man's suspicions. Yuusaku coughed slightly, before pulling out a packet of papers from his jacket and setting them on the table.

"Admittedly, I was dismissing it myself when I had these results, thinking I must have missed something, but that gem of yours made me realize it as an option. 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth', after all." He flipped open the papers, and Kaito took that second to glance at Shinichi, who had gone back to sitting rigidly, face frozen. Kaito faintly recognized the quote as belonging to Shinichi's beloved Holmes – he was fairly sure that Hakuba had spouted it off to him once – and this man was the one who had given Shinichi that admiration. Shinichi had also been visibly nervous about the man discovering who had been in his house, apparently with good reason. Kaito reminded himself that it was this man who taught Shinichi everything to be the detective he was today, and Kaito reprimanded himself for dismissing the man. Hell, the man was in his father's old notes! There had been one telling sentence that, if Kudou Yuusaku ever pursued him seriously, Toichi had been seriously worried he'd actually be caught.

Kaito returned his attention to the man as he cleared his throat, holding up one sheet of paper. "I was given a strange set of fingerprints that Shirobane was kind enough to procure for me. After hearing about you, I was very surprised when the fingerprints did not turn out to be Kuroba Kaito's at all, but those of a middle-aged businessman who died some years ago."

Shit, that mistake with the seals was coming back to haunt him, just as he knew it would. And the owner of the Night Sky back home was dead here? Weird. Yuusaku continued, setting the paper down and moving on to the next. "I was told you were wearing seals, so how odd for them to not be of the person you were masquerading as. Whose fingerprints were you really wearing, then? Then I found something even more strange. I knew I had had uninvited guests a few evenings ago. They left a single black hair I found in my dryer."

Kaito wanted to cry at that. Hair, a single strand of hair, _again_. How many more times would freaking hair get him into trouble? The entire mess with Hakuba back home was because of hair! Maybe he should shave himself bald, it would save the trouble. Wait, black? His hair was brown...

"I was rather expecting the DNA test to come back matching my friend here. Imagine my surprise when it matched mine instead. I spent many hours wondering if I not been as discreet as I should have in a random encounter, but looking into the age of the supposed owner, it fell during a few years when I was too busy to cut my hair, let alone do anything of that sort. So..."

Here the man leaned forward, steepling his fingers and giving them both a searching look. "Am I wrong? Did I miss your age and somehow I have a son I missed somewhere, or perhaps...another version of me has a son, who is sitting in front of me now and is rather misplaced? Is the answer in this jewel that can supposedly look into alternate dimensions?"

The balance of power had completely shifted, and Kaito cursed himself for thinking that they could hold the conversation forever. They had kept Toichi and Vermouth unbalanced with the revelations, but now Yuusaku was picking up that slack. Kaito glanced at Shinichi, trying to gauge their best reply. Yuusaku seemed ready to believe that they came from an alternate dimension, which was honestly better than he'd expected, but what if it was a trap to get them into confessing? If they miscalculated, and Toichi and Vermouth (and now Yuusaku) were really Organization members, then they would be telling them that travel between worlds was possible. They'd just spent two years getting rid of one Organization, they didn't need a new one moving in from another _world!_

The silence stretched for a moment as Kaito fumbled for an answer, and Shinichi seemed to be frozen, staring at the papers with a strangely frustrated look. It didn't seem like a new emotion, and Kaito had a brief moment to wonder if Shinichi was used to being shown up by his father. It seemed hardly sporting, to be honest.

"Does that mean...that makes you really...Kaito?"

Kaito had never really heard his father _hesitant_ before, as if he was _scared_ of an answer, and it was the tone that first snapped his attention back to his not-father. Then the words registered, and Kaito blinked. Well, yes, he really was, but why would that make Toichi—oh.

Of course. He'd had his own near-breakdown at seeing his father _alive_. Even looking at the man was still difficult, and he could see some of those earlier emotions of disbelief echoing across the man's face. Toichi had been set to believe he was an imposter, someone stealing his dead son's identity, and now the idea that Kaito was real was apparently throwing him for a loop, enough for the man's Poker Face to actually start slipping. And now that he realized he had the possibility of his supposedly-dead son being alive and _right there._..

There was still the chance this was all an elaborate set-up. There was still the chance that they wouldn't be believed and would be considered as imposters.

But there was a chance now. They possibly had help. And Kaito had to admit that personally, he wanted to tell. He wanted to tell his father everything, even if it wasn't really _his_ father. He wanted to, even if for only a little while, have a second chance with the man who had meant everything to him for so long.

Taking a deep breath, Kaito flicked his eyes back to Shinichi. It wasn't his decision alone after all, and he wasn't going to make a move unless the detective was okay with it. Despite his new and conflicting feelings on the subject, they were still friends, and more importantly, _partners_ right now. Even new allies wouldn't change that.

Shinichi looked up from the papers finally, mouth set in a thin line, but he looked back at Kaito and then sighed slightly. Resignation. Round one went to Yuusaku. Well, that was permission too.

Steeling his nerves, Kaito turned back to the three adults and hoped that he wasn't making a hugely stupid mistake.

"...Yes. I'm really Kuroba Kaito, and we're not from here."

Reviews always appreciated.


	18. Chapter 18: Illuminated Night

Author's Note: We're just not going to talk about how long this took out. Yeah. This chapter might get rewritten in the future, but for now, enjoy. :) I do deeply apologize for the long wait!

**Chapter Eighteen**  
><em>Illuminated Night<em>

Shinichi let out a slow breath as Kaito dropped that little bombshell. The adults in the room took it with varying acceptance – Vermouth was as obviously skeptical as she got, one fine eyebrow arched as she regarded them blankly, Toichi had a frown that fluttered across his mouth for the briefest moment before it smoothed away, and Yuusaku sat back a bit, lacing his fingers together with an impassive expression, ready to absorb all they would tell. Shinichi recognized the look well as his father's listening face.

There was a small pause as Kaito seemed to search for words, and Shinichi found himself looking back down at the packet of papers Yuusaku had dropped on the table.

It _figured_, didn't it. His father always did like to show him up, appearing out of nowhere with the better answer like an extremely strange and unwanted spirit of advice and then running away with a laugh. It drove Shinichi absolutely batty. His father had so much knowledge, so much intelligence, and he spent it running away from his editors and...

Right, stopping there. This wasn't really his father and he probably shouldn't work himself into a funk over his irritations with the man. When he did, he tended to start ranting – Ran had said once that his parents were the only subject besides Holmes that really got Shinichi going, for different reasons.

Well, it wasn't _his_ fault they were flighty irresponsible globe-trotters, was it? No, he didn't think so. And as their son and the usual victim of their strange plots, he felt it was perfectly within his rights to get irritated with them. Shinichi was going to stick with that justification for as long as he could.

"Then if you are not from...here, may I ask where you_ are_ from?" Toichi's voice cut into Shinichi's thoughts. Right. That. Shinichi was so ready for this little battle of interrogations to be done.

There was a minor pause as Kaito considered the question. Thankfully he seemed to have recovered his composure, that was good. He'd been so obviously shocked at the beginning of the whole mess that Shinichi had been worried. Finally the younger thief spread his hands.

"Well...it wasn't exactly intentional. Shinichi and I here had just come into possession of that little jewel we mentioned when it did a little light show and knocked us out. We woke up in this dimension. That's about all we know."

There was another pause in the conversation as the three adults considered this. Vermouth had crossed her arms sometime, leaning back in her chair as she watched them both with an unreadable expression, smirk dangling at the edges of her mouth as always. Yuusaku shifted slightly, hand coming up to his mouth in a contemplative gesture. The man took a breath, but before he could ask his question a sound rang through the small room, as loud as a siren for the deep silence it interrupted. A phone, Toichi's cellphone was ringing.

The impersonal interruption seemed to shatter something, and at once the intense aura of the room dissipated. Vermouth started examining her nails and Yuusaku sat back as Toichi pulled the offending phone out and checked it, the smallest frown on his face for the untimely call.

Kaito sat back the slightest bit as well, and Shinichi barely heard the soft exhale the thief did. He spared a quick glance to Kaito who gave him the smallest smile, and Shinichi let his worry ease a bit. Kaito was doing fine, so he could focus more on their situation.

The sound of Toichi's phone snapping shut refocused Shinichi on the man. The elder magician's face was a grim mask, and without preamble Toichi stood up. The man studied Shinichi and Kaito for a moment, before shaking his head slightly.

"I'm afraid I must go...and this place is not the best for discussing such matters. It is not...safe, here." Toichi looked between them for a long moment, seemingly debating something if Shinichi was reading the lack of expression safely.

"...As much as I would like to continue this talk...I'm afraid, we can't do it here, nor this night. If you are not telling the truth...I can assure you the consequences will not be pleasant." Toichi's voice hardened noticeably, making those thoughts of an Organization-affiliated Kid flicker through Shinichi's mind again. Well, he supposed it was a good thing they were telling the truth, then. "Yuusaku, I leave this to you. And Sharon, duck and cover."

With that rather cryptic parting remark, Kuroba Toichi quickly walked out of the room, the rather abrupt departure leaving Shinichi a little disorientated. As well as a little disappointed – if anything, he'd hoped that they could have resolved this now, instead of later. Now it was just going to drag on again. And Kaito wouldn't be able to talk with his father either...

Vermouth sighed gustily and flipped her hair as she stood, looking at Shinichi and Kaito as she fished another cigarette out. "Duck and cover, again? And I had just gotten used to this place. The pains one must endure while on the run, I suppose. But since Toichi dear was dragged off by them while you two sat here with us, not contacting anybody, I suppose I can at least believe in you for a little while. I will stay close by, at least. You'll hear from me soon. Goodbye Yuusaku, little birds." With a smirk and a wiggle of her fingers, Vermouth followed Toichi's example and left, leaving Shinichi and Kaito sitting with Yuusaku, who now seemed vaguely amused. Shinichi hated that expression, it was often the one that preceded Yuusaku doing something stupid – or him watching Yukiko do something stupid. His parents were_ morons._

"Well, that ended rather quickly." Yuusaku said genially, taking a drink of his coffee. At a loss for what to do, Shinichi followed his example. Kaito also took a sip, eyes flickering between Shinichi and his not-father, before the thief set his cup down.

"So, what will happen from here, Kudou-san?" Kaito asked, stirring his coffee again. Yuusaku made a thoughtful noise in response to the question, sipping his coffee before setting it down as well.

"Well, I was thinking that we should finish enjoying our coffee and clean up, since it's about time for the library to be closing. Then I would drive you two home, as I brought my car and the library is a ways from your apartment, is it not? It would save you a train ride. And it would give us a chance to arrange another meeting for Toichi and Sharon's benefit. Then we can all sleep on this and meet with clearer heads tomorrow."

"...You're just letting us go?" Shinichi couldn't help the question, rather disbelieving. All this questioning, the tenseness, the fear, the thought that they could very well just be lying their asses off, and Yuusaku was just going to drive them home and get a "See you for tea tomorrow" promise. He had to wonder sometimes if his father was mildly insane.

"I am rather confident in my theory, after all, and it is not as if I am letting you go without supervision. I got the confirmation I needed, so the rest is for my colleague's benefit, really." Came the calm reply, and Shinichi forced down his scowl. No matter how much his father irritated him, it wasn't the time to indulge in that now, especially with one that really wasn't his father. "Now then, if you are finished with your coffee, why don't you follow me?"

Despite the man's friendly tone, the question wasn't really a suggestion – even if he believed them, Yuusaku was still treating them cautiously. So his father was only _half_-insane, how nice. Sighing at the turn the events had taken since five minutes ago, Shinichi took a fortifying gulp of the last of his coffee and stood up, Kaito following suit. Sleep was honestly sounding pretty good, maybe things would make sense then.

Yuusaku led them out of the library, which by now was in the process of shutting down for the night. Lights in unused corners were turning off, making the remaining ones stand out all the more. Shinichi never did like florescent lighting – it always seemed so harsh and impersonal, suited for flickering in horror movies and that was it. He remembered too many horrors illuminated by them, he supposed. Once outside, Yuusaku walked to go get his car, asking them to wait for him to bring it up to them. Left to wait, Shinichi sighed and leaned back against the brick of the building. When had today gone so weird?

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"

Kaito's voice brought Shinichi back to the present, and he looked over at the other teen, who was looking up at the sky. Shinichi followed his gaze to the moon, a few slivers past full. With no stars from the city's light pollution, only the moon shone defiantly in the inky black night sky.

"Yeah..." He murmured in reply. It really was a nice night, though. Shinichi never got to appreciate the little things like weather much – too busy with cases or school or otherwise catching up with being himself. Even as Conan, and before, he had never been much of a "stop and smell the roses" person. The idea of just all the good he _could_ be doing made him feel like he was wasting time if he dawdled. But there were a lot of things he was starting to realize he missed, and being forced to be idle like this strange dimension jump had was making that all the more apparent. Hell, when was the last time he'd sat down and read a book for pleasure? Not since Conan, at least.

It was a bit cold, though. Better than being hot – which Shinichi detested – but he was starting to wish that he'd thought to grab a jacket like Kaito had when they'd left for the library. Folding his arms and tucking his hands under them, he looked back over at the thief. Kaito was still staring up at the moon like someone entranced, eyes occasionally flicking to something else that caught his attention. The moonlight and city lights caught in those odd indigo eyes, causing them to glitter brightly, and in the semi-darkness of the library front it created a bit of a surreal atmosphere, as if it were Kid standing there instead of Kaito. Which was an odd feeling, since Kaito _was_ Kid, but there was a difference in atmosphere about the two. Perhaps just because Shinichi hadn't really seen Kaito, unmasked, in Kid-style lighting before.

The silence stretched out longer, and Shinichi would have called the surreal atmosphere "other-worldly", but they _were_ in another world already, and it was just...weird all around. He didn't really know what to do with himself, or what to say – so many things had happened today, where would he begin? – so he wrapped his arms a bit tighter around himself and stared at his shoes. What should he say? Should he even say anything at all...?

There was a muffled sound, and Shinichi looked back up at the other teen, a bit concerned. His concern melted into confusion when Kaito suddenly burst out laughing.

Shinichi stared, a bit nonplussed, as Kaito bent himself over and proceeded to, apparently, laugh himself silly. Was this another one of the thief's insanities? Should he really worry or just chalk it up to Kaito being weird? The strange tension that had been building beforehand was gone at least, but Shinichi was unsure if Kaito apparently losing his mind was an improvement.

"...Are you done?" He managed when the other managed to straighten up, muffling his chuckles behind a hand. Kaito glanced at him, eyes still too bright and strange from the lighting and perhaps even brighter from mirth, but the grin peeking out from behind his hand was all too familiar. Shinichi, despite his misgivings, relaxed a bit at that. No matter the weird atmosphere or strange revelations today, Kaito was still Kaito.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Shaking his head with a snicker, Kaito grinned at him again before looking back up. "It's just...all that build-up, and here we are waiting for a ride like normal teens after a party or something. I guess I just needed to relax a bit after all of the...excitement, you know? And all the worry. After all, that whole meeting...it means they're probably on our side, doesn't it?"

Shinichi snorted softly at his explanation, but looked away as he thought over Kaito's words. True, everything had pointed to that. And, really, that would take a huge load off Kaito, wouldn't it? It would mean that his father was alive and safe in this world, and safe for Kaito to be around, now. Shinichi couldn't begin to imagine the relief or emotions that a revelation like that would cause. He guessed that a relieved outburst was a normal reaction then, as much as 'normal' and 'Kaito' could ever be ascribed to each other. "I suppose it's nice to know, yes."

Looking back up at the moon hanging silently in the black, Shinichi absently rubbed his arms to warm them up as he thought. Although there was still a chance of being fooled, it was probably safe to agree to whatever Yuusaku arranged. If they really could talk freely, it would mean they now had three potential allies, and Shinichi had first-hand experience of just how useful Yuusaku and Vermouth as allies could be.

They might even really get to go home sooner rather than later.

Distracted by his thoughts, Shinichi jumped slightly when warm weight settled over his shoulders, and he blinked, looking down. Kaito's coat, which the teen had been wearing, was now draped over Shinichi. Grabbing the extra fabric automatically, he turned to the other, a bit confused. "What's this?"

Kaito just smiled enigmatically at him. "Chilly, isn't it? You forgot your own coat, and I'm wearing a sweater so I'm fine like this."

Shinichi frowned slightly. If there was one thing in the world he hated, it was being treated like a little kid. Being Conan had been enough of that, thank you, and his mother had never grown out of it either. "Why? He's going to be here with the car any minute, I would have been fine."

"Just humor me." Another unfathomable smile, bright and quick in the dark. "Besides, you're warmer now, aren't you? It's just for a few minutes."

Although he was still confused, Shinichi just shook his head slightly. Kaito might as well have been born on Mars for the sense he made sometimes. Well, if he wanted to give Shinichi his coat, he wasn't getting it back until Shinichi was nice and warm, then. Besides, it _was_ chilly.

Tires scraped across asphalt, and Shinichi glanced towards the street as Yuusaku pulled up in a sleek black sedan. Kaito stretched, arms raised above his head for a moment before they dropped back down and he smiled at Shinichi again, cocking one arm in a flippant gesture as if he was offering to escort a lady to a ball. "Well, our ride's here. Shall we go?"

Snorting, Shinichi shoved the arm lightly and gave Kaito a small glare – he just really wanted to sleep right now. And who knew what sort of impression they were making on Yuusaku. "Enough dramatics, let's just go."

"Ouch, abuse. I'm being abused. Shinichi, you're so cruel. I think I might bruise, all of you detectives are so rough. No understanding of proper gentleman behavior!" Ignoring the melodramatics from his strange new friend who was now putting on a big show of pouting and examining his supposedly-wounded arm, Shinichi descended the steps to the car, where Yuusaku was waiting for them. While the man's face was fairly impassive, he knew that look and knew that Yuusaku was really laughing at them on the inside. Shinichi opened the car door with perhaps more force than necessary. _Morons_. He was surrounded by _morons_.

"Get in the car, you idiot." He snapped at Kaito, who pouted but obediently dropped the dramatics to open the other door and get in. Yuusaku broke face for a brief moment to laugh almost inaudibly at their antics – great, he was reduced to being a comedy act for his not-father – before pulling away from the building that had caused too many changes in an entirely too short period of time. Already that first trip to gather information when they had first landed in this world seemed an eternity ago.

But hopefully not all those changes were bad. Maybe if they managed to truly convince Yuusaku and the others that they were really speaking the truth, perhaps they could return home soon. Perhaps this would all be over soon.

Sliding down in his seat a bit, Shinichi sighed and closed his eyes, absent-mindedly pulling the jacket on his shoulders tighter around himself. As the car drove on through the night through familiar-yet-different streets, he could only hope that for once in his life, his wishful thinking would be correct.

Reviews always appreciated.


	19. Chapter 19: One-Sided Game

Author's Notes: Welp, faster than last time. The main problem was Kaito's confrontation with Toichi, I just couldn't write it for the life of me, so this next bit has been significantly restructured. I'm still not entirely sure if I will actually write out the confrontation in the main storyline – as it will be during a Shinichi POV chapter – but even if it doesn't make it in, it will be a side-story.

Now then, onto fic!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nineteen<strong>

One-Sided Game

It was funny, Kaito mused, how life had a way of continuing with mundane things no matter what else happened.

Like now, for example. Here he was, idly drying a glass as he waited for someone to be seated at one of his tables, as if he hadn't sat down with an alternate-universe version of his father last night and told the man that he was from a different reality. It was almost as if last night hadn't happened, if it weren't for the weight of a cellphone in his pocket.

Last night, after that damned phone call had kind of killed the meeting and momentum, Yuusaku had indeed taken them home. However, they'd stopped at an electronics store on the way there, and the author had purchased two prepaid cellphones for Kaito and Shinichi, since their original ones were next to worthless here. All the unexpected help obviously had Shinichi on edge, but Kaito at that point had just decided to roll with it. It was better to accept the help, as even if this all turned out to be an elaborate setup, they would have that many more tools to escape and survive. And Kaito could never deny that he adored improvisation.

Yuusaku had then left them back at the apartment with a genial farewell and a reminder that they would be called when the date and time of the next meeting would be. Hence the cellphones, of course. The man then drove off, leaving Shinichi standing there looking like he wanted to throw his shoes after the car's retreating bumper and Kaito rather feeling like he'd just been picked up and swung around merrily, before suddenly set down right where he had been as if that whole episode had never happened.

It was sudden, and Kaito felt a little off-center and disgruntled about it. Surely life should reflect its happenings? Then why were they back in the cafe as if nothing had happened last night? Kaito was aware he was mildly sulking about this, but hey, his sense as an entertainer was feeling jilted. Something should be different! Where was the _adventure_?

"Kuroba-kun, a moment please." The manager's voice cut into Kaito's musings. Right, at work. The only bad thing about easy work was that his mind developed a tendency to wander off on these tangents. Flipping his towel over its bar, Kaito turned and gave a winning smile the man. "Yes sir?"

A single arched eyebrow was the only response given to his response. Really, his sense of artistry was being wasted on these plebeians. The man just huffed a bit and then held out an envelope towards him. "Paycheck for this week. I've already deducted some of it for your rent and passed it along to Kisaki-san. Thanks for the hard work."

"Ah, thank you..." Kaito murmured, reaching out to take the envelope with a sense of detachment. Had it really been a week already? His heist had been Monday night, they'd then spent Tuesday finding out where they were, Wednesday got them a job and a home, Thursday had been the rather traumatic meeting Toichi and the murder afterwards...wow, had yesterday really been Friday? Yes, it had been, with the library and the abrupt meeting. So today was Saturday...now that he thought about it, yes, there were more teenagers in the cafe now than on the weekdays, no school. He hadn't really cared, lost in his thoughts as he had been, and he mentally chastised himself. He couldn't afford to be unobservant, especially not here in this world. Anyways, it was already Saturday, which was apparently payday at the cafe, rather than Friday. The days had passed so quickly, like a huge blur, although they hadn't at the time. Funny how perception worked.

He peeked into the envelope before he tucked it away out of sight – with the rent percentage deducted, it wasn't very much at all, especially since Shinichi and he had only worked for three days, although they were full-time hours of ten to six. He made a mental note to ask what days they would have off later as he flicked his hand and stored the envelope on his person. Resuming his glass-drying – as he still hadn't been called to his tables yet – Kaito let himself frown slightly as he thought. He'd gotten maybe ten thousand yen, so if Shinichi had made the same – were their pay rates the same? He'd have to account for that too, had to ask later – that left them with only twenty thousand. Which wasn't...a lot for all the things they needed. The little toiletries and other things provided by Hakuba and Mouri would last them until next paycheck probably, but that still left things like food, as they couldn't rely on the cafe to feed them all the time, and so many other things like more clothes, trick supplies – his roses were wilted, he had none for his tricks, the_ horror_ – and a coffee maker to make Shinichi presentable in the mornings. Right, definitely getting that if they could, this morning had been...embarrassing.

Banishing thoughts of the small fiasco that morning – even if it had made Kaito happy in an increasingly-large part of himself, that had been embarrassing in its own right and just added to his well-hidden mortification – Kaito shook his head slightly and picked up another glass.

At that moment, however, Azusa poked her head into the kitchen. "Kuroba-kun, table six, it's Ran-chan!"

Ah, good, a distraction! And Mouri! What luck, he needed to talk to her anyways. Hopefully they wouldn't be called out to the meeting right after work, Kaito was not looking forward to Interrogation Round Two. Smiling brightly at Azusa, Kaito left the kitchen, forcibly dragging his eyes away from Shinichi who was industriously brewing something for a customer, this being the first day he was working alone. Convincing himself that Shinichi was fine and he didn't need to stare at the other teen, Kaito headed towards Ran's table, where she was sitting and chatting softly with _ugh Hakuba_.

What she saw in the stuffy half-Brit he would never know. Mouri could do so much better!

"Hello Mouri-chan, Hakuba-kun!" Kaito chirped at the pair when he arrived, firmly reminding himself that he couldn't tease Hakuba in this universe. Shinichi would get pissy. "What can I get you today?"

Mouri looked up and smiled at him, holding out her menu. "Kuroba-kun! Just juice for me for now, please. Oh, and a bagel."

"Earl Grey tea for me please." Hakuba added in, and Kaito took the two menus offered to him as he scribbled down their order. Maybe he could spike Hakuba's tea...no, bad Kaito. He was about to turn and go get their orders when Mouri's voice stopped him. "Ah, Kuroba-kun...you called me yesterday, right? I'm really sorry I was busy, but I'm free today. Did you still want to talk to me about something?"

Right, that phone call. He'd almost forgotten, which was almost unforgivable. He never forgot anything! But now that he was reminded, all the better. He turned back and smiled brightly at the girl. "Right! I'll be free after work, or if it has to be before six we can talk over my lunch in an hour. What works for you?" Well, he wasn't quite sure he'd be free after work, but...

Mouri thought for a moment. "Well, I think Mom wanted to do something tonight...so is the lunch break okay?"

Kaito nodded. Even if they weren't called out right after work, during lunch break meant that he wouldn't have to immediately explain to Shinichi where he was going and why. The detective would still notice him gone, but hopefully it would slip his mind after the rest of the work day. Kaito was really hoping for that, as small a chance as it was. "That works for me. In an hour, then?"

"All right. I'll be here until then, Saguru-kun and I have to go over some case details anyways."

Who went over case details on dates? Hakuba was _weird._ And also looking at Kaito suspiciously as if he thought Kaito might be trying to make a move on his girlfriend. But now he had a set time to talk with Mouri over his major problem that didn't involve hopping worlds, and that made Kaito feel far better. After last night and this morning, he really needed that talk. Even if it wasn't with Aoko or his mother, he did trust Mouri on this level.

And depending on the course of action he decided on...it wouldn't be a bad idea to become friends with the girl, would it? It would give him a head start with the one back home, in case he...well. In the least, if he and Shinichi stayed friends. After this, if Shinichi was still friendly and not going to turn him in, there was no way Kaito wasn't inserting himself into the other's life. No matter where these weird feelings led, at the very least Shinichi knew who he _was_, both of him, and a friend he could trust like that was a treasure Kaito wasn't keen on returning just yet. As long as Shinichi stayed on board...

Mouri's juice and bagel and Hakuba's tea were quickly fetched, and Kaito spent the next hour in jittery anticipation, although he didn't let it show. Mindlessly going through his duties, Kaito began mentally arranging his conversation in his head. The best conversation opener...? Probably about her relationship with Hakuba and how it began. Then he could probably play up the fact that he'd never really dated before – as none of his dates with Aoko had been "official" and his policies with Aoko would never fly with Shinichi – to garner some sympathy points about being unsure how to proceed. Which was true, of course. After that...hmmn, well he'd judge depending on how the conversation went from there.

Perception really was a funny thing. The hour seemed to drag on forever to Kaito at the time, but when the manager waved an arm at him and told him to take a break, he suddenly felt like it had gone by too fast and he wasn't ready. Kicking his weird nervousness back down the mental hole where it came from, Kaito flipping the apron he wore over its hook and ducked out of the kitchen, deliberately avoiding Shinichi as he grabbed his coat and headed for the door. He felt a little bad for leaving the detective and his poor social skills alone, but this was for Shinichi's sake, in a way.

Mouri was waiting for him at the door, giving him a smile when she saw him. Greeting her happily, Kaito held it open for her and they began walking towards a small cake shop just down the road. Perhaps he shouldn't be dining at his employer's competition, but he really couldn't do this sitting at Poirot.

Sitting at a small corner table with a slice of chocolate cake and a mug of hot cocoa before him, Kaito mentally reviewed his planned conversation, took a deep breath, and started.

"Mouri-chan, if I may ask...how did your relationship with Hakuba-kun start?"

Mouri paused for a moment, cup of tea halfway to her mouth as she blinked in surprise, before her face turned thoughtful. "Let's see...when I was fifteen, Mom took me to review a crime scene to help a case of hers. Saguru-kun had apparently just come back to Japan then, and, having an interest in the case himself, he showed up. He was...well, I suppose it's bad to say this about my boyfriend, but he kind of showed up like he owned the place and that he was so much better than everyone else. So...I kind of punched him."

Kaito's eyebrows raised, and he held back a snort of disbelief. It figured, though, Hakuba had been just like that, hadn't he? Although fifteen was earlier than back home... He grinned slightly as Mouri laughed softly in remembrance.

"To be honest, we didn't get along all that well for the first two or three meetings. I may not be a genius like him, but I'm not stupid, and the way he assumed he was always right...he made me really mad. Then, at a case, Saguru-kun went off after the murderer on his own. I suppose my temper got the better of me, as I ran right after him and ended up bursting into the room right when the man pulled a gun. I was still pretty mad, so I just kicked him right away. I managed to disarm and knock him out after a short fight, and then...well, I turned around and just started yelling at Saguru-kun. All sorts of things, like how he was going to get himself killed if he kept thinking he was so much better than everyone else and what was he going to do if he never told anyone his thoughts and ran off and disappeared because no one would know where to look for him because he didn't trust anyone...a lot of pretty horrible things, actually. I still remember his face, he looked so shocked! It was the first time I saw him looking like that, and not just the smug smile or calmness."

Kaito could certainly imagine it ended up that way. And in a way, it made a lot of sense. Hakuba was a detective, and much like Shinichi he thrived on mental puzzles. As much as he grumped about it, Kaito knew that keeping Hakuba surprised and on his toes was only a good thing. That's what helped people grow, after all, and Kaito was always willing to help the process along! And now, listening to Mouri's story, he could sort of begin to see the relationship. She'd surprised Hakuba, and that surprise would turn into curiosity...Hakuba may be a smug arrogant bastard who was too stuffy for his own good, but no one could fault the man's dedication to unraveling something he found interesting.

Even if Kaito sometimes wished he was a little less persistent. And easier to fool.

After a sip of her tea and an encouraging nod from Kaito, Mouri continued. "Then...well, he apologized. It was so weird, up until then I thought he would never do something so...beneath him. I was too surprised to be angry anymore. It also made me notice that most of my anger was because I was worried about him. Even if he had made me mad, I wouldn't want him dead, right? He _was_ a good detective. So, I accepted his apology and we tried to get along better after that. It was rather surprising, but we actually got along pretty well once we were past the first impressions. We both practice martial arts, you know, and like tea, and solve cases...we turned up having a lot to talk about, and after a year or so he asked me out on a real date. He was so red...and well, even during those first few cases, he was nothing less than a gentleman, even if a very infuriating one, and once we were past that he was very nice to spend time with, even if he did need to lighten up a bit. So I said yes, and well, as you can see, it's gone well."

Mouri smiled in fond remembrance, and Kaito took the time to sip at his hot cocoa and mentally review the story. It was pretty interesting, and a bit surprising, but he could understand it. Maybe this universe's Hakuba really wasn't that bad, as it seemed Mouri really had had a positive affect on him. Maybe he could even get along with him...nah. Although if he arranged for Hakuba and Mouri to spend time together back home, what would happen...? He'd have to ask Shinichi his opinion. It would probably be pretty funny.

Following his own train of thought, he was unprepared for Mouri's question. "So, are you asking me this because you want to ask Kudou-kun out?"

Only long years of practice at holding back involuntary reactions saved Kaito from redecorating the table with his mouthful of hot chocolate. As it was, he choked on it slightly, swallowing hastily and coughing a bit to clear his throat. "Ah...M-Mouri-chan, what brought that...?"

The girl detective blushed slightly, looking down slightly. "Well...I just thought...you two are very close, and why else would you ask me about my relationship if you didn't want advice about your own...? I'm sorry if it was too forward, or if I was wrong..."

Kaito took another swallow of his drink to recover his composure. Well, okay, they ended up at the topic a lot faster than he thought, he really shouldn't underestimate Mouri's observation skills, which always were uncannily sharp. But it was what he wanted to talk about, so he just had to improvise a bit faster than normal, that was fine. "Ah, no, actually you are right, it's what I wanted to ask you about, but I didn't really know how...and we only just met, so..."

"Well, you two seem to be out of contact with your friends back home, since you called me from the cafe phone. So, being near the same age and me being in a relationship, I'm the best choice, right?" Mouri smiled gently at him. "I don't know how much help I'll be, but you can tell me anything, I promise. I'll try to help in any way I can."

Kaito smiled back, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. Aoko would have teased him mercilessly about such things, which would have made him defensive and not willing to talk about them. Mouri really was a very kind girl. He could see why Shinichi revolved so much of his life around her. Compared to her, it would be hard to find a better girl.

Taking a breath and a bite of cake to steady his nerves, Kaito considered his lines of conversation. "Well...the thing is...I don't know if I even should, you know? We're two guys...and even if I did, I don't know if he'd go for it, and...I don't know if it's worth risking."

Mouri made a thoughtful noise, and Kaito took another bite of cake to stem any more nervous babble. Because that was the crux of it right there. He and Shinichi were very new friends. Sure, their rivalry had been going for two years now, and certainly many elements of their friendship had been established then, but hell, Shinichi had only known his name for _two days_ now. It was all new and Kaito didn't want to risk it. He knew the detective was socially awkward, he didn't want Shinichi to always be second-guessing himself on how he should act around Kaito. Wouldn't that be worse than just not doing anything...?

"Well..." The girl murmured. "Saguru-kun once said that he was far more afraid when he asked me out than he ever had been facing down murderers. Because he didn't want to lose our friendship, because it is true that it changed everything when he did. But in the end, he just couldn't stand holding back without knowing if there _was _a chance. I think everyone is afraid of being rejected, but the chance of _not_ being rejected makes it worth it, don't you think? The change my be horrible, but it just as well might be the best thing to ever happen to anyone. Being with Saguru-kun makes me happy. So I can't say you _should_ or _shouldn't_, but...well, I can only tell you that I'm glad he did."

Kaito let a wistful smile slip across his face. "You really are a wise, wonderful woman, Mouri-chan. Hakuba-kun is lucky to have you." As she blushed and laughed slightly at the compliment, Kaito took a sip of his hot chocolate that was now getting lukewarm, and thought.

Of course, the thought that it _could _work out was very tempting. Thinking about it seriously, he _did_ want to try. That was the point of attraction, wasn't it? To want to try with someone. But at the same time, he didn't think that rushing off and asking Shinichi on a date was the smartest thing to do. Their friendship was still new, and Shinichi too gun-shy about personal relationships. But Mouri's stories had Kaito thinking. They'd been_ friends_ first, which was such a normal thing that most people assumed it was true for most people, but Kaito was now considering it more closely. No, the best step was not to immediately ask Shinichi out, but rather to ease into it. Friends first, but friends in such a way that adding romance wouldn't be a huge change. No, ease himself into Shinichi's life, become the most important person to him first. Once he had achieved that closeness, then the change would be smooth and Shinichi wouldn't be awkward if the transition involved little more than a sudden addition of kissing. Besides, hadn't the detective said that himself that first night in the apartment? That he wanted to be good friends first? Kaito could do that. All he had to do was make himself irreplaceable to Shinichi...and he had a lot of confidence on being irreplaceable. And if he added gestures that could be construed as romantic to anyone but romantically-dense Shinichi...well, all for the better when they did transition, right?

In fact, Kaito thought in amusement, laughing mentally to himself, isn't that what he'd already been doing? Rather subconsciously, even. The prime example had been last night with the coat. He hadn't even been thinking, really, he'd just seen the detective shiver slightly and rub his arms in the cold, and before Kaito had really thought about it his jacket had been off his own shoulders and around Shinichi's. Undoubtedly a unconscious move on his part to take care of someone he cared for, and Shinichi had been completely blind to the romantic overtones of it. He seemed more miffed that Kaito thought he needed taking care of, although that was probably residue left over from being a helpless seven-year-old for two years. Of course, being who he was, Shinichi probably needed more supervision now than when he was Conan, but as long as he was subtle about it hopefully Kaito wouldn't piss him off. No, that was a good plan. Make himself indispensable first, a good friend and someone Shinichi relied on. And if he hugged Shinichi a lot, well, he was just a touchy-feely person.

Maybe it was too calculating of him. It seemed awfully impersonal, to plan to become someone extremely important first just to soothe the transition into lovers. But it was who Kaito was. He didn't stay free as Kaitou Kid for three years now by being thoughtless and unplanned. And it wasn't an impersonal heist or a simple calculation on the best angle to hide the dye pellet that was aimed for Hakuba's hair. He _wanted _to be the most important person to Shinichi, he _wanted_ to earn the other's trust, respect, and even perhaps love, he just wasn't going to leave it all up to chance.

And the first step was a coffee maker. He was always up before Shinichi anyways, so having a fresh cup of coffee and perhaps some breakfast that didn't require culinary skills beyond pushing a few buttons ready for the other teen wouldn't be any trouble. Shinichi would grump about it at first, but he would also be grateful, and that was just what Kaito wanted. A small thoughtful gesture that wouldn't seem to be anything to be friendly but would also be something very appreciated, that would be the first step in courting one very prickly, reticent Kudou Shinichi.

Smiling to himself, Kaito drained the last of his drink. It was almost time to go back to work, after all. "Thank you for the talk, Mouri-chan. I think I know what I'm going to do now. I can't say it will be immediately, but I think I will, eventually." After he was quite sure that there was no one else quite like him to Shinichi.

She smiled at him in return. "I'm glad I could help. I'll be rooting for you. Let me know if I can do anything else to help, okay?"

"Of course, and thank you. It really means a lot to have such a wonderful friend as you on my side. I'll take you up on that offer when I need it." Also finishing off his cake, Kaito was about to stand and go pay for their meal – because a gentleman didn't make the lady pay and he now had the money to do it – when Mouri reached out slightly. "Um...may I ask you something about Kudou-kun, Kuroba-kun?"

Curious, Kaito tilted his head. What was she going to ask? "Sure. What is it?"

She bit her lip, as if she was nervous about what she was going to ask...personal, maybe? "Well...it's just...Kudou-kun seems a little...awkward around me. He seems to have a lot of trouble looking at me in the face, and so on. So...is there something wrong...? I hope I didn't do anything wrong..."

Ah, so she had picked up on that. It made sense she would, but she would also be too polite to ask Shinichi directly. She had given Shinichi a few strange looks, after all. What to say...? Well, perhaps an indirect truth was the best. "Ah...well, you just resemble a dear childhood friend of his, that's all. She moved away a while ago, and now that he's moved too, he doesn't know if he'll see her again. So I'm sure he's just getting used to someone who looks so much like his friend."

"Oh, I see...I'm sorry for that." She bit her lip again. "...This may be insensitive to ask, but did he...like her?"

Kaito blinked, then smiled a bit sardonically. How close to the truth this all was. "I believe he used to. But by the time she left, they were very much like brother and sister. So I hope you don't worry about that."

"That's good then, I didn't want to make things weird between you two." Smiling softly at him, Mouri stood, and Kaito followed her example, picking up the check before she could object to it. "I'm glad we talked today, Kuroba-kun. If you need anything, you can always call me."

The smile he gave her in return was genuine. If they hopefully managed to ever go home, he could see himself being good friends with the girl. Sure, he'd probably always be a little nervous of her karate skills, but she was just a genuinely good person, with good sense and a steady, firm presence. He could see why Shinichi had always stayed friends with her. "Me too. Please call me Kaito, Mouri-chan. Kuroba makes me feel like my father."

"Only if you call me Ran in return." Her eyes sparkled with good mirth, and Kaito made a mental note to get to know all of Shinichi's friends if he could. Hopefully they would all be as rewarding. "Of course, Ran-chan."

They left the small cake shop then, Kaito blithely paying over Ran's mild protests, and he left for Poirot with considerably lighter steps. He knew what he was going to do now, and with that tangled mess worked out, he felt considerably freer. They were still a universe away from home, with no way back in sight, and they still had that ominous meeting hanging over them that Kaito still wasn't sure he wouldn't break down for, but he felt a little like there was a light at the end of the tunnel, now. AT the very least he was free to concentrate on the jewel and universe problem...as long as he didn't get too distracted by Shinichi. And speaking of Shinichi, he was going to have to come up with a quick excuse as to why he'd been with Ran over his lunch and why he'd left the detective alone. Hmmn, maybe about the last part of their conversation? After all, Shinichi himself had to know that was acting awkwardly around Ran, so knowing the excuse Kaito had come up with would be good for him...

Since it was nowhere near the ringtone he used for his normal phone, the ringing of the cellphone in his pocket went on for a bit before Kaito realized it was his own phone, or rather the cheap thing Yuusaku had bought for him last night. He took it out in curiosity, which had Shinichi's name as the caller across the screen. Right, they'd taken the chance to program their own numbers...well, he was thinking on how to handle Shinichi anyways, might as well tell him he was on his way back. He flipped open the phone and pressed it to his ear. "Shinichi! Sorry, I'm on my way back. What's up?"

"Kaito." Shinichi's flat voice caused Kaito to pause. That wasn't mildly annoyed at being ditched, or even depressed. That was his detective's _serious_ tone. "I received the information about the meeting."

Oh. That. Well that was just a great damper for his good mood wasn't it? "I see...when?"

There was a pause and an inhale of breath. "...Tomorrow, we'll all meet at the Italian restaurant on 4th street and Haido. However..."

That sounded reasonable, but... "...However?"

A sigh, then Shinichi's voice resumed, and Kaito's knuckles tightened to white on the cellphone as he listened. "...Kuroba Toichi wants to meet you an hour beforehand. Alone."

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